ely to miss her dinner. Mrs. Elwood's dinner hour
was from half-past five until seven o'clock. She rigidly refused to
serve meals to those who came later.

[Illustration: Grace Stepped Behind a Tree.]

"I can't possibly make it," mused Grace. "I'll run into Vinton's for
dinner. All this comes of playing sleuth." She laughed softly at her own
remark, then her face grew grave. "What shall I do?" she thought. "It is
my duty to tell the authorities, but I promised Father after the class
money was found that I'd never meddle in any such affair again. Yet here
I am, on the outskirts of Overton, trailing an escaped convict as though
my bread and butter depended upon it. If I could only turn over this
affair to some one else, and let him do the rest, I'd be perfectly
satisfied."

On the way to Vinton's, Grace reluctantly decided to go in person to the
police station and report her discovery to the Chief of Police. "It is
only right," she argued. "I will simply tell them the facts and ask them
to keep my part in the affair a secret. Then I'll write Father and tell
him about it. Perhaps I ought to write him first. But if I wait for his
answer it may be too late. I'll go and report my news as soon as I have
had my dinner."

Grace did not enjoy her solitary meal. To her, the chief charm of a
dinner at Vinton's consisted in eating it with her friends. The smart
little restaurant seemed unusually quiet. There were not more than half
a dozen persons dining there and only two of the half dozen were Overton
girls. It was less than a week until Thanksgiving. It looked as though
the girls were practicing economy. This accounted for the slim
patronage. Grace ate her dinner with one eye on the door, vainly hoping
for the entrance of some one she knew. But no one of her friends
appeared, and without waiting for dessert she asked the waitress for her
check and left the restaurant to go on her disagreeable errand.

It was not a long walk to the police station, and Grace resolved to go
there with all possible speed. She wished to be able to dismiss the
affair from her mind at the earliest moment. She had reached the cross
street on which the station house was situated and was about to turn
into it when she almost collided with a young woman who gave a smothered
exclamation of annoyance and hurried on. As they came together directly
under the rays of the arc light, they could scarcely help recognizing
each other.

"I beg your pardon," cal