n't you anxious to know if I delivered the packet?"

"The packet? I had forgotten it," Carmen said carelessly. "Still, I
did think you might have written to let me know you took it safe. But
I dare say you had many interesting things to do."

"As it happened, I had," Foster replied with a touch of grimness. "For
all that, I delivered the packet and got an answer."

Carmen regarded him with surprise, as if she thought he had not played
up. "You can give me the answer afterwards. Tell me about
Featherstone's place and his people. I'm curious about them;
particularly his sisters. I suppose he has some?"

Foster thought he understood. Carmen was clever and would not have
used such obvious means had she wished to learn if Lawrence had a
sister who had attracted him. What she wanted was to persuade him that
the packet was not important.

"I'd sooner talk about the errand you gave me. Did you know what the
packet contained?"

She laughed, but he thought the laugh was forced. "Doesn't that sound
rather stupid when I sent the thing?"

"Perhaps it does," said Foster gravely. "Still, I hope you didn't
know."

Her coquettish manner vanished and she leaned slightly forward while
her eyes got hard. Indeed, there was something feline in her alert
pose. Now she had, so to speak, unsheathed her claws, he was glad the
advantage was heavily on his side. For all that, he did not want to
hurt her.

"Go on," she said sharply.

"Very well. I got an answer, which I opened. I'll show it to you, but
won't give it up."

"You opened it!" she exclaimed. "Do you mean to keep a letter that was
sent to me?"

"I don't think it was sent to you; that's important."

Carmen smiled defiantly and Foster admired her pluck, since it was
obvious that he had found out the trick. Still he thought she did not
know how important the letter really was.

"Then you can quit fencing and get down to business," she said, and
Foster saw that the surface polish she generally wore was thin. The
character it concealed was fierce and somewhat primitive. He had
suspected that Carmen would not be restrained by conventions if she let
herself go.

"If you'll be patient, I'll try to make things plain."

He began by hastily recounting what had happened at the factory the
night Fred Hulton was killed. Carmen was obviously puzzled, which was
a relief to him, but he saw comprehension in her look as he went on to
relate how he had been watch