glance just what was needed. Whenever she went from
the room he tried to persuade himself that it was not she, and then became
feverishly impatient for her return that he might anew convince himself
that it _was_. He felt a helpless rage at the son of the house for the
familiar way in which he said: "Mary, fill my glass," and could not keep
from frowning. Then he was startled at the similarity of names. Mary! The
men on the street had used the name, too! Could it be that her enemy had
tracked her? Perhaps he, Dunham, had appeared just in time to help her!

His busy brain scarcely heard the questions with which his host was plying
him, and his replies were distraught and monosyllabic. At last he broke in
upon the conversation:

"Excuse me, but I wonder if I may interrupt you for a moment. I have
thought of something that I ought to attend to at once. I wonder if the
waitress would be kind enough to send a 'phone message for me. I am afraid
it will be too late if I wait."

"Why, certainly," said the host, all anxiety. "Would you like to go to the
'phone yourself, or can I attend to it for you? Just feel perfectly at
home."

Already the young man was hastily writing a line or two on a card he had
taken from his pocket, and he handed it to the waitress, who at his
question had moved silently behind his chair to do his bidding.

"Just call up that number, please, and give the message below. They will
understand, and then you will write down their answer?"

He handed her the pencil and turned again to his dessert, saying with a
relieved air:

"Thank you. I am sorry for the interruption. Now will you finish that
story?" Apparently his entire attention was devoted to his host and his
ice, but in reality he was listening to the click of the telephone and the
low, gentle voice in an adjoining room. It came after only a moment's
pause, and he wondered at the calmness with which the usual formula of the
telephone was carried on. He could not hear what she said, but his ears
were alert to the pause, just long enough for a few words to be written,
and then to her footsteps coming quietly back.

His heart was beating wildly. It seemed to him that his host must see the
strained look in his face, but he tried to fasten his interest upon the
conversation and keep calm.

He had applied the test. There was no number upon the card, and he knew
that if the girl were not the one of whom he was in search, she would
return for an expl