irley decided that the weather was too glorious
to remain indoors. Her health must not be jeopardized even to
advance the interests of the Colossus, so she put on her hat and
left the house to go for a walk. The air smelled sweet to her
after being confined so long indoor, and she walked with a more
elastic and buoyant step than she had since her return home.
Turning down Fifth Avenue, she entered the park at Seventy-second
Street, following the pathway until she came to the bend in the
driveway opposite the Casino. The park was almost deserted at that
hour, and there was a delightful sense of solitude and a sweet
scent of new-mown hay from the freshly cut lawns. She found an
empty bench, well shaded by an overspreading tree, and she sat
down, grateful for the rest and quiet.

She wondered what Jefferson thought of her action in coming to his
father's house practically in disguise and under an assumed name.
She must see him at once, for in him lay her hope of obtaining
possession of the letters. Certainly she felt no delicacy or
compunction in asking Jefferson to do her this service. The
letters belonged to her father and they were being wrongfully
withheld with the deliberate purpose of doing him an injury. She
had a moral if not a legal right to recover the letters in any way
that she could.

She was so deeply engrossed in her thoughts that she had not
noticed a hansom cab which suddenly drew up with a jerk at the
curb opposite her bench. A man jumped out. It was Jefferson.

"Hello, Shirley," he cried gaily; "who would have expected to find
you rusticating on a bench here? I pictured you grinding away at
home doing literary stunts for the governor." He grinned and then
added: "Come for a drive. I want to talk to you."

Shirley demurred. No, she could not spare the time. Yet, she
thought to herself, why was not this a good opportunity to explain
to Jefferson how he came to find her in his father's library
masquerading under another name, and also to ask him to secure the
letters for her? While she pondered Jefferson insisted, and a few
minutes later she found herself sitting beside him in the cab.
They started off at a brisk pace, Shirley sitting with her head
back, enjoying the strong breeze caused by the rapid motion.

"Now tell me," he said, "what does it all mean? I was so startled
at seeing you in the library the other day that I almost betrayed
you. How did you come to call on father?"

Briefly Shirley e