or
reinstated in the empty pomp and circumstance of society, no one had
really cared save Winnie, and he had not counted.

The tragedy of utter isolation from all human ties descended upon her
and in the depths of her desolation she was oblivious to the sound of
footsteps approaching on the frosty, hard-packed road. It was only
when they halted that she glanced up--and found herself looking into
the eyes of Kearn Thode.

CHAPTER XXIII

THE SLIPPER OF CINDERELLA

Forgetting for a moment all else but the joy of his presence, she held
out both hands with a glad little cry.

"Kearn!"

He took her hands in his, but released them after the merest touch, and
in the hungry wistfulness of his gaze there was no answering gladness.

"Miss Murdaugh, I have an explanation to make for my disobedience of
your injunction," he said stiffly. "I have deliberately followed you
here, but it is only that I may put you in possession of certain facts
which are of moment to you. Will you forgive me if I intrude upon you
for an hour?"

The brightness faded, and she bowed her head in silence. She had
forgotten his duplicity and the cold-blooded mercenary game he had
played, but the memory of it returned with his first words.
Passionately she wished that she might never have learned the truth!
He would have played the game to the last round, he would have been
kind at least, and she might have lived on in her fool's paradise.
Then a wave of contempt swept over her for her own cowardice and she
straightened.

"I am very glad to see you." Her tones were gravely conventional. "If
you have followed me out here, as you say, to render me a service it
must be one for which I shall be deeply grateful, Mr. Thode. I am
staying at the Palace Hotel and if you will walk there with me we can
talk, secure from intrusion. How did you know I was here?"

"Winthrop North told me of the sudden change in your plans for the
future, and that he knew where you had gone when you left the
Halsteads. I made a hurried trip West and there discovered what I have
now to tell you." He spoke slowly as if weighing each word. "I went
back to New York to see you, but could only learn that you had
disappeared. However, since you had not gone to Limasito, it occurred
to me that you must be here, in an attempt possibly to prove your
identity."

"And what you have to tell me bears on that?" Willa asked.

"It does, most conclusively. Starr Wiley must