anager. He
came up to her eagerly.

"I seem to be just in time, Miss Duge," he said. "You are going away?"

"I am certainly going away," she answered. "Did you wish to see me?"

Her manner took him a little aback. Nevertheless he reflected that there
were a good many people within hearing, and she was right to
be cautious.

"Can I have three words with you?" he begged, "alone, anywhere?"

She led him into a sitting-room, which was fortunately empty.

"Well," she said, continuing to draw on her gloves, "what do you want,
Mr. Littleson?"

"You know very well what I want," he answered quickly. "I have my
cheque-book in my pocket, and I am ready to pay over the hundred
thousand dollars. I know that you have the paper. If you like to wait
for ten minutes, you can have the money in dollars."

"How do you know that I have the paper?" she asked calmly.

"Your cousin, Miss Virginia, has been to our office," he answered. "She
thought, naturally, that you had brought it straight to us. I don't know
whether she seriously expected that we would give it up again, but that
seemed to be the object of her visit. At any rate, we learnt that you
had succeeded."

Stella was busy with the last finger of her glove.

"Yes!" she said, "I succeeded. It was a brutal action, and I shall never
quite forgive myself for it, but I got the paper."

"Well?" he said.

"Well?" she answered calmly.

A horrible misgiving came over him.

"You haven't parted with it?" he demanded anxiously. "You haven't let
your father have it back again?"

"I have not parted with it," she answered, "to my father. On the other
hand, I certainly have not got it. A hundred thousand dollars is a good
deal of money, Mr. Littleson; but I did not commit theft for the benefit
of you and your friends."

"What do you mean?" he asked hoarsely.

"Exactly what I say," she answered. "The paper is in safe keeping. You
will probably hear before long who has it."

Littleson was speechless. All manner of horrible fears oppressed him.
"You must tell me," he insisted hoarsely, "where it is, who has got it!
This is infamous! Why, if I had not told you--"

"I should not have known anything about it," she interrupted. "Quite
true! I suppose I ought to thank you. However, as I say, the paper is in
safe hands, but not my father's. You will probably hear something about
it before long."

"For God's sake, tell me who has it, Miss Duge!" he implored. "You can't
understand w