orry he was
firm, but I'd warned him about Carmen and she doesn't deserve much
pity. But why did Daly leave England and how did he find out that I'd
been at Banff?"

"If you'll tell me what you have done since you left the Crossing, it
might help to solve the puzzle," Foster replied.

Lawrence made a gesture of resignation. "I suppose it must be told. I
went to California and didn't get as well as I expected. There was a
good deal of sea-fog on the coast and after a time I went farther
south. That's one reason I didn't write; I felt languid and dejected
and didn't want to alarm my folks. Well, I tried Mexico and got rather
worse; besides I found lounging tiresome work. In consequence, I
joined a steamer going north and her doctor told me that dry cold
mountain air was the best cure for troubles like mine. I met Walters
on the voyage up the coast."

"Perhaps you had better describe him," Lucy suggested.

"Walters looks about my age and is thin and dark; an amusing fellow and
remarkably well informed. In fact, I couldn't guess his nationality;
he seemed to have been everywhere. He had good manners, but somehow
one missed----"

"Something that good manners must be founded on," Lucy interposed.

Foster saw that they had argued about the man before, because Lawrence
smiled indulgently.

"Then how did he make your acquaintance?" he asked the girl.

"That was not altogether Lawrence's fault. Walters was cleverer than
he thought."

"And he mailed one of the letters that did not arrive?"

"The fellow," Lawrence continued, "was a pleasant companion and when I
mentioned why I was traveling agreed that the mountains were best for
me. Told me about some friends of his whom the air had cured."

"In short, he recommended your trying Banff," Lucy remarked.

"He did me a good turn there. We separated at Seattle, but I found him
at Victoria, where I stopped some weeks. It was there I met Lucy, who
was going to Banff. I must explain that she's a mountaineer."

The girl blushed. "I climbed in the Olympians twice with college
friends. They talked about exploring some of the northern glaciers
next summer, and as we wanted a change, I persuaded mother to spend a
month or two at a mountain resort where I could get some practice on
the ice." She paused and added in a grave voice: "I really don't climb
well, Mr. Foster, and doubt if I shall venture on the rocks again."

"Well," resumed Lawrence, "we decided to