ashes of indignation in those of the tall young man who rode beside
her.

The tall young man was going to gaol!

CHAPTER VII

THE THREE GUARDIANS

The anti-climax had struck the Hotel Tirol some hours before it came
upon Brock and Miss Fowler. It seems that Githens had gone first to the
big hostelry in quest of light on the very puzzling dilemma in which he
found himself involved. Inquiries at the office only served to stir up a
grave commotion among the clerks and managers, all of whom vociferously
maintained that the hotel was entirely blameless if any deception had
been practised. The Tirol did not tolerate anything that savoured of the
scandalous; the Tirol was a respectable house; the Tirol was ever
careful, always rigid in the protection of its good name; and so on and
so forth at great length and with great precision. But Mr. Githens had
two officers with him, and he demanded the person of the man calling
himself Roxbury Medcroft. The principal bank in the city was also
represented in the company of investigators. Likewise there was a
laconic gentleman from the British office.

Mr. Medcroft was out. Then, they agreed, it was necessary to see Mrs.
Medcroft, or the lady representing herself to be such. Mr. Githens was
permitted to go to her rooms in company with the manager of the hotel.
What transpired in those rooms during the next fifteen minutes would be
quite impossible to narrate short of an entire volume. Edith promptly
collapsed. Subsequently she became hysterical. She begged for time, and,
getting it, proceeded to threaten every one with prosecution.

"I _am_ Mrs. Medcroft!" she declared piteously. "Where is the American
consul? I demand the American consul!"

"What has the American government to do with it?" gruffly demanded Mr.
Githens.

"Mr.--Mr.--the gentleman whom you accuse is an American citizen!" she
stammered.

"Oho! Then he is not an Englishman?"

"I refuse to answer your questions. You are impertinent. I ask you, sir,
as the manager of this hotel, to eject this man from my rooms." The
manager smiled blandly and did not eject the man.

"But, madam," he said, "we have a right to know who and what you are. If
Mr. Medcroft is in London, this gentleman surely cannot be he, the real
Mr. Medcroft. We must have an explanation."

"I'll--I will explain everything to-morrow. Oh, by the way, is there a
telegram for me in the office? There must be. I've been expecting it all
day. I te