te to have you get after my
scalp."

"What's--who's talking in this berth?" demanded Mollie, sitting up
suddenly.

"Sh-h-h!" warned Barbara, laying a restraining hand on her sister's
lips. "It isn't in this berth. It's in the next one. Go to sleep."

"Is--is Grace asleep?"

"Yes. Be quiet."

Grace Carter, the girls' companion, occupied the berth above them. As no
sound had been heard from that quarter it was reasonable to suppose that
Grace had not been awakened by the conversation of the two men.

Barbara was trembling violently. She was profoundly affected by what she
had overheard. Yet while she had heard a name mentioned and a threat
made against the owner of that name, she was in the dark as to the
meaning of the threat--she did not understand what it was that this man
proposed to do. Her ears were now strained to catch every word uttered
on the other side of the partition.

"I shall watch the market with interest, Nat," the second speaker was
saying. "I don't say that I approve of your way of getting revenge, but
that is your own affair. Remember, however, that people who play with
fire are sooner or later sure to be singed."

The other man laughed.

"My feathers were singed a long time ago, Jim," he said.

"Well, here's where I get off. Good luck, old man, and good night."

The train had moved forward slowly, halting at a station a short
distance from the last stop. The man who had made the threats
accompanied his friend to the door of the car, then instead of returning
to the seat he had occupied with his friend, he seated himself opposite
the section occupied by the girls.

Bab, determined to know who the man was, peered cautiously between the
curtains.

"It's the man in section thirteen!" she exclaimed. Then she realized
that she had expressed her thought aloud.

The man wheeled sharply, his face hardening, his eyes narrowed to mere
slits as he gazed questioningly about him. He saw no one, for Barbara
had quickly withdrawn her head, holding the curtains firmly so that he
should observe no movement of them. The girl had learned that which she
was so curious to know. She now knew the man who had uttered the
threats. He had occupied the section opposite to her all during the
previous afternoon, though she did not recall having heard him speak nor
did she know his name. The man across the aisle reached for his bag,
from which he selected a package of papers. These he regarded
thoughtfully for a