on with his story
of Peter God. He told it in a lower voice. Not until he had finished
did he look again in the direction of the other table. The woman had
changed her position slightly, so that he could not see her face. The
uptilt of her hat revealed to him the warm soft glow of shining coils
of brown hair. He was sure that her escort was keeping watch of his
movements.

Suddenly Barrow drew his attention to a man sitting alone a dozen
tables from them.

"There's DeVoe, one of the Amalgamated chiefs," he said. "He has almost
finished, and I want to speak to him before he leaves. Will you excuse
me a minute--or will you come along and meet him?"

"I'll wait," said Philip.

Ten seconds later, the woman's white-haired escort was on his feet. He
came to Philip's table, and seated himself casually in Barrow's chair,
as though Philip were an old friend with whom he had come to chat for a
moment.

"I beg your pardon for the imposition which I am laying upon you," he
said in a low, quiet voice. "I am Colonel McCloud. The lady with me is
my daughter. And you, I believe, are a gentleman. If I were not sure of
that, I should not have taken advantage of your friend's temporary
absence. You heard my daughter cry out a few moments ago? You observed
that she was--disturbed?"

Philip nodded.

"I could not help it. I was facing her. And since then I have thought
that I--unconsciously--was the cause of her perturbation. I am Philip
Curtis, Colonel McCloud, from Fort MacPherson, two thousand miles north
of here, on the Mackenzie River. So you see, if it is a case of
mistaken identity--"

"No--no--it is not that," interrupted the older man. "As we were
passing your table we--my daughter--heard you speak a name. Perhaps she
was mistaken. It was--Peter God."

"Yes. I know Peter God. He is a friend of mine."

Barrow was returning. The other saw him over Philip's shoulder, and his
voice trembled with a sudden and subdued excitement as he said quickly:

"Your friend is coming' back. No one but you must know that my daughter
is interested in this man--Peter God. She trusts you. She sent me to
you. It is important that she should see you to-night and talk with you
alone. I will wait for you outside. I will have a taxicab ready to take
you to our apartments. Will you come?"

He had risen. Philip heard Barrow's footsteps behind him.

"I will come," he said.

A few minutes later Colonel McCloud and his daughter left the cafe. T