e candle and they crouched down beside the safe. Some one
was coming up the stairs, not stealthily this time but boldly, as one
who had a right there, whistling softly. Wade could feel the girl's
shoulder tremble against his side, as he slipped his revolver out of its
holster.

"Don't, Gordon! You--you mustn't shoot, no matter what happens." Her
teeth were chattering, for she was far more frightened now than she had
been for herself alone. "That's Moran. He mustn't see you here. Remember
that warrant. Hide behind the safe. Please!"

"Never!" he muttered grimly. "He'd find us anyhow."

"Yes, yes. Please!" She was almost hysterical in her excitement. "I can
bluff him till you can get away. He won't hurt me. If he does you can
show yourself. Do it for me, for your friends. Please! Remember, he
mustn't know that _you've_ learned his secret."

It was Moran, for they heard him now in conversation with some passer-by
in the hallway. Dorothy was grateful for the respite, for it gave them
time to throw the loose papers back into the safe and close it. Wade
then pushed the safe to its original position, the casters making little
noise as they rolled. Then he crouched behind it.

"I don't like this stunt!" he protested; but yielded to her beseeching
"Please." She was right, too, he knew. It would be far better if Moran
could be kept in ignorance of his visit there.

The office now bore little sign of their invasion of it, and, drawing a
deep breath, Dorothy schooled herself to calmness as she awaited Moran,
who was walking down the hall toward the entrance to the room. A plan
had flashed into her mind by means of which she might save both Wade and
herself, if he and her heart would only be quiet. The unruly heart was
beating so violently that it shook her thin dress, and that her voice
must tremble, she knew.

Moran was almost at the threshold, when Dorothy opened the door for him.

"Good evening, Mr. Moran. Did I startle you?"

"Well, not exactly," he said, striking a match, after an instant's
pause. "What are you doing here?"

Passing her, he lighted the large oil lamp, and swept the room with a
quick, keen glance. Finding nothing apparently wrong, he turned again to
his visitor with a puzzled expression in his face.

"Well?"

"I wanted to see you and I thought you'd be here. The door was unlocked
so I just walked in. I've been here only a minute or two." Fortified by
another deep breath, drawn while his back was t