ent until you hear from me. Don't talk to him, don't let any one
else talk to him, and don't let him talk. If any person speaks to him
before he is locked up, take that person in charge also. He is guilty of
no crime, but a single word from him now will endanger my life."

That was all. It was said and done so quickly that Howard, dazed,
confused and utterly unable to account for anything, was led away
without a protest. Mr. Grimm, musing gently on the stupidity of mankind
in general and the ease with which it is possible to lead even a clever
individual into a trap, if the bait appeals to greed, took a car and
went up town.

Some three hours later he walked briskly along a narrow path strewn with
pine needles, which led tortuously up to an old colonial farmhouse.
Outwardly the place seemed to be deserted. The blinds, battered and
stripped of paint by wind and rain, were all closed and one corner of
the small veranda had crumbled away from age and neglect. In the rear of
the house, rising from an old barn, a thin pole with a cup-like
attachment at the apex, thrust its point into the open above the dense,
odorous pines. Mr. Grimm noted these things as he came along.

He stepped up quietly on the veranda and had just extended one hand to
rap on the door when it was opened from within, and Miss Thorne stood
before him. He was not surprised; intuition had told him he would meet
her again, perhaps here in hiding. A sudden quick tenderness lighted the
listless eyes. For an instant she stood staring, her face pallid against
the gloom of the hallway beyond, and she drew a long breath of relief,
as she pressed one hand to her breast. The blue-gray eyes were veiled by
drooping lids, then she recovered herself and they opened into his. In
them he saw anxiety, apprehension, fear even.

"Miss Thorne!" he greeted, and he bowed low over the white hand which
she impulsively thrust toward him.

"I--I knew some one was coming," she stammered in a half whisper. "I
didn't know it was you; I hadn't known definitely until this instant
that you were safe from the explosion. I am glad--glad, you understand;
glad that you were not--" She stopped and fought back her emotions, then
went on: "But you must not come in; you must go away at once. Your--your
life is in danger here."

"_How_ did you know I was coming?" inquired Mr. Grimm.

"From the moment Mr. Howard telephoned," she replied, still hastily,
still in the mysterious half whisper.