rved as a store. Crouching down there,
she was able to hear what Holmes, inside, was saying, as she had hoped.
And the very first words she heard sent a thrill through her, and
banished any lingering regrets she might have had at playing the part,
usually so dishonorable, of eavesdropper.

"Hello! Hello!" she heard him saying. "What's the matter, Central? I
want Hedgeville--number eight, ring five. Can't you get that!"

Bessie did not know the number, but very few people in Hedgeville had a
telephone, and that in itself was suspicious. She waited while Holmes,
expressing his impatience volubly, amid sympathetic chuckles from the
audience inside the store, got his connection.

"Hello! Hello! Is that you, Weeks?" she heard him say, at last, and it
was all she could do, when she heard the name of the man who had proved
himself such a determined enemy to Zara and herself, to keep from
betraying herself with a cry. "Yes, yes, this is Holmes! Where am I? Oh,
ten miles from nowhere! You wouldn't know the place if I were to tell
you. What you want to know is where I'm going to be an hour from now.
What? Tell you! Well, that's what I'm trying to do! Listen a little and
don't ask so many questions. I'm going to be in an automobile at
Jericho. Know where that is?"

He waited, evidently listening to Weeks.

"Yes, that's right. You'll be there, eh? You've got the papers? Well,
don't leave them at home. We don't want any mistake about this. I had a
lot of luck, didn't expect to be able to do it so soon, or so easily.
I'll tell you about that later. Jericho, then. You won't be late? And an
hour from now. This is risky work, Weeks. If you make any of your fool
breaks this time, you'll hear from me. Well, good-bye!"

As he said good-bye Bessie slipped back to the automobile, and when
Holmes came out, all bluff good-nature, only Bessie's heightened color
showed that anything out of the ordinary had happened to her. As soon as
she returned, Dolly began to hurl question after question at her, but
Bessie refused to answer.

"Keep quiet, Dolly!" she urged. "I'll tell you all about it when I can,
but this isn't the time to talk. You don't want to let Mr. Holmes know
what I was doing, do you? Well, please keep quiet, then!"

Of course, if Holmes planned to do anything wrong, he would not have
revealed his plans boldly to the loafers in the store who had been
listening to his telephone conversation. Bessie understood that what he
had s