old me up in his arms till the ceremony was over, and I was
desperate. I would have given everything I had in the world if the floor
had opened and swallowed me up then, but of course I knew wild thoughts
like that wouldn't get me anywhere, so I just shut my eyes and tried to
think of a way; and then I asked them all to go out a minute and let me
be quiet. The doctor who had come out of the church told them to go. I
shall always bless that man, whoever he was! Then when they were gone I
opened a door that had a key in it, and I locked it behind me and ran
away down some stairs and out a passage that led to the street. That
girl, Jane Carson, was passing and she put her own coat on me and took
me to her room and sent me here. Oh, it's been so good to get here! Do
you think they can take me away against my will?"

"Certainly not!" said the young man. "Not without some foul play, but I
don't intend to give them any chance for that. By the way, when do you
come of age?"

"In three weeks," said Betty, looking troubled. "Why, would I be safe
after I was of age?"

"You certainly would not be under their guardianship any longer," said
the young lawyer, "and they would have no right to control your actions,
unless of course you were incapacitated somehow and unfit to manage your
own affairs."

Betty looked troubled.

"I've thought sometimes, ever since I saw that paper in which they
hinted that I was temporarily insane, that they might try to shut me up
in an insane asylum. Herbert wouldn't stop at anything. Could he do
that?"

"They would have to get a doctor to swear that you were mentally
unsound," said Reyburn, looking troubled. "Does he really love you, do
you think or does he only want to get you in his power for some reason?"

"It is more like that," said Betty sorrowfully, "he couldn't really love
anybody but himself."

"Well, don't you worry. I'm going at the case at once, and I'll put
those people where they'll have to walk a chalk line before many hours
are over. The first thing I must do is to see those trustees of yours.
Can you give me the names and addresses?"

He got out his fountain pen, and Betty told him all he wanted to know,
that is, all she knew herself, and then suddenly it was train time and
he hurried away. On the steps he paused and said in a low tone:

"Are you perfectly comfortable with these people for a few days until I
can get you better accommodations where you will be safe?"

"Entir