t scare him. You and your machine!"

She dared not seem to hurry.

"You're a boaster," she said, with the door open. "You always were.
And you'll never lay a hand on him. You're like all bullies; you're a
coward!"

She was through the doorway by that time, and in terror for fear, having
told her so much, he would try to detain her. She saw the idea come into
his face, too, just as she slipped outside. He made a move toward her.

"I think--" he began.

She slammed the door and ran down the hallway toward the stairs. She
heard him open the door and come out into the hall, but she was well in
advance and running like a deer.

"Edith!" he called.

She stumbled on the second flight of stairs and fell a half-dozen steps,
but she picked herself up and ran on. At the bottom of the lower flight
she stopped and listened, but he had gone back. She heard the slam of
his door as he closed it.

But the insistent need of haste drove her on, headlong. She shot through
the lobby, past the staring telephone girl, and into the street, and
there settled down into steady running, her elbows close to her sides,
trying to remember to breathe slowly and evenly. She must get home
somehow, get the envelope and follow the directions inside. Her thoughts
raced with her. It was almost eleven o'clock and Willy had been gone for
hours. She tried to pray, but the words did not come.

CHAPTER XXXIX

At something after seven o'clock that night Willy Cameron and Pink
Denslow reached that point on the Mayville Road which had been
designated by the storekeeper, Cusick. They left the car there, hidden
in a grove, and struck off across country to the west. Willy Cameron
had been thoughtful for some time, and as they climbed a low hill, going
with extreme caution, he said:

"I'm still skeptical about Cusick, Pink. Do you think he's straight?"

"One of the best men we've got," Pink replied, confidently. "He's put us
on to several things."

"He's foreign born, isn't he?"

"That's his value. They don't suspect him for a minute."

"But--what does he get out of it?"

"Good citizen," said Pink, with promptness. "You've got to remember,
Cameron, that a lot of these fellows are better Americans than we are.
They're like religious converts, stronger than the ones born in the
fold. They're Americans because they want to be. Anyhow, you ought to be
strong for him, Cameron. He said to tell you, but no one else."

"I'll tell you how strong I am