elf under medical observation."

"You think that?"

"I do; I am convinced of it. Please understand me; I do not pronounce
upon these visible symptoms; I do not express an unqualified opinion;
but I could be in a position to do so if you consent to place yourself
under my observations and care. For these suspicious symptoms are not
only very plainly apparent to me, but were even noted by that old
gentleman whom you may perhaps have observed conversing with me."

"Yes, I saw him. Who is he?"

"Dr. Austin Atwood," said the girl solemnly.

"Oh! And you say he also observed something queer about me? What did he
see? Are there spots on me? Am I turning any remarkable color? Am I--"
And in the very midst of his genuine alarm he suddenly remembered the
make-up box and what the Tracer of Lost Persons had done to his eyes.
Was _that_ it? Where was the Tracer, anyway? He had promised to appear.
And then Carden recollected the gray wig and whiskers that the Tracer
had waved at him from the cupboard, bidding him note them well. _Could_
that beaming, benignant, tottering old gentleman have been the Tracer of
Lost Persons himself? And the same instant Carden was sure of it, spite
of the miraculous change in the man.

Then logic came to his aid; and, deducing with care and patience, an
earnest conviction grew within him that the dark circles under his eyes
and the tottering old gentleman resembling Dr. Austin Atwood had a great
deal to do with this dreadful disease which Dr. Hollis desired to study.

He looked at the charming girl beside him, and she looked back at him
very sweetly, very earnestly, awaiting his decision.

For a moment he realized that she had really scared him, and in the
reaction of relief an overwhelming desire to laugh seized him. He
managed to suppress it, to compose himself. Then he remembered the
Tracer's admonition to acquiesce in everything, do what he was told to
do, not to run away, and to pay his court at the first decent
opportunity.

He had no longer any desire to escape; he was quite willing to do
anything she desired.

"Do you really want to study me, Dr. Hollis?" he asked, feeling like a
hypocrite.

"Indeed I do," she replied fervently.

"You believe me worth studying?"

"Oh, truly, truly, you are! You don't suspect--you cannot conceive how
important you have suddenly become to me."

"Then I think you had better take my case, Dr. Hollis," he said
seriously. "I begin now to realize that