to
step over at once? Not that I doubt my own ability to cope with the
case"--fingering the handle of a weapon on his pocket--"only it is
always well to take no chances. Especially now!"

"Now?"

"Since he has practically convicted himself and confirmed my theory. We
shall get at the truth through him. We're nearer the solution of the
matter than I dared hope for."

"I'll telephone myself!" she cried. And started back to do so when an
excited face confronted her.

"If ye plase, ma'am!" It was the cook.

"What is it?" Miss Van Rolsen spoke sharply.

"If ye plase, I think, ma'am, this Mr. Heatherbloom has taken lave av
his senses."

"Why, what has he been doing?"

"He has, faith, just jumped over the fence into our neighbor's yard on
the corner, and--"

The man on the steps did not wait to hear more; with something that
sounded like an imprecation he sprang quickly down to the sidewalk and
ran toward the corner.

CHAPTER IX

WHO FIGHTS AND RUNS

As Mr. Heatherbloom prepared to issue from his neighbor's gate opening
on the side street, the feminine voice of one of the servants in the
rear of the corner house called out in alarm at sight of the strange
figure speeding across their metropolitan imitation of a back yard. If
anything were needed to stimulate the fugitive's footsteps, it was the
sound of that voice. He stayed not on the order of his going, but
pushing back the heavy bolt--fortunately his egress was not barred by a
locked door--he tore open the gate and sprang to the sidewalk. Then
without stopping, he ran on, away from the fashionable avenue. The
street he traversed like many thoroughfares of its kind was
comparatively deserted most of the time; nobody impeded his progress,
though one or two people gazed after him from their windows.

He had gone about three-quarters of a block when the window spectators
discerned a heavier built figure come lumbering around the corner,
apparently in hot pursuit. Mr. Heatherbloom, glancing over his shoulder,
also observed this person; his capture and subsequent incarceration
seemed inevitable. Already the fugitive was drawing near to busier
Fourth Avenue; there he would be obliged to relax his pace; he could not
sprint down that thoroughfare without attracting undue attention.
Behind, the pursuer called out; he was, however, too short of breath for
compelling vocal effect.

Mr. Heatherbloom, on the contrary, had good control of his breathing and
wa