ddenly appeared at her chum's
side, a little flame of white-hot indignation.

"Don't dare touch her!" she cried fiercely. "You've done
enough--you--you----"

"Here, here, what's this?" asked an authoritative voice, and a big burly
man, an assistant manager of the hotel, pushed his way through the
gathering crowd.

"These girls are crazy," cried the tall man, turning furiously upon the
newcomer, while his fat companion took out an immense silk handkerchief
and nervously wiped his forehead. "If you don't get them out of the way
and lock them up, I'll sue your place----"

"Officer, arrest those men!"

Clear and startling, the voice rang out above the confusion, and the two
men, without waiting to see who their new enemy was, made a dash for the
open door, which was still only defended by Nan and Rhoda.

But the hotel man was quicker than they. He sprang before them and
pushed them back into the crowd, which opened to admit them and closed
around them again, making escape utterly impossible.

For a moment, Nan and Rhoda, left outside of the circle around the men,
could see nothing of what happened. But presently Mr. Mason--it was he
who, coming suddenly upon the scene in the lobby, had demanded the
arrest of the men--pushed his way through the crowd and beckoned to Nan.
She went with him, and Rhoda followed close behind. Grace and Bess had
already pushed their way into the crowd.

The house detective, who had been in consultation with Mr. Mason when
the thing happened, had taken the two men into custody. The tall, thin
scoundrel, who had appeared in Nan's dreams for many restless nights,
stood there sullenly, glowering around fiercely at the curious faces
while his companion used his handkerchief more vehemently and seemed to
be growing more nervous with every minute that passed.

"Can you swear that these are the men who attacked you in an orange
grove near here yesterday and demanded of you certain papers which were
not in your possession?" the detective gravely asked of Nan.

"Yes, sir," answered the girl eagerly. Walter had slipped up beside her
and was holding her hand in a comforting grip, but she did not know it.

"Can you also testify that they have attempted to obtain possession of
these papers at various other occasions during the last two or three
weeks?" the man went on, and this time Nan only nodded.

"Well," said the detective, turning grimly to his prisoners, while the
crowd, not having the slig