alk of trivial things, to make a lark of their
luncheon in Boston, to get as far away as she could from the dangerous
and uncertain profession which had taken Kridel from her, and which
might, even before she could resolve her own feelings, involve Garth in
some fatal accident. Once he recurred to the gray mask, and spoke of
Slim and George, whose trial would soon begin. She trembled slightly, he
thought. She wouldn't let him go on. Her fear, he was certain, was not
for herself. That much encouraged. Yet this rivalry with one who had
been for some time dead often brought him a sensation of complete
helplessness; for Nora was not one to pose. She was honest with herself,
with Garth, with the dead man. Perhaps some grave sacrifice would
resolve her doubts. He felt himself capable of that. He fell into her
mood at last, and found the journey home too short. In retrospect it
assumed an increased value. During a long period he saw practically
nothing of Nora.

For a month or more he found no comfort in his work. Headquarters, he
remarked many times, was a rest cure for anybody who wanted one.

All at once that altered, as such things happen, without warning. He had
spent an hour or so on an unimpressive case, and it was nearly midnight
when he turned south from the frontier of Harlem.

From time to time a light snow fell, and always there was a vaporous
quality about the cold night air which added to the waywardness of his
unexpected experience.

He walked for a long time, scarcely aware of the landmarks of the
neighbourhood, rehearsing thoughts which, these last few weeks, had
grown familiar and unpalatable. Now, as always, they failed to guide him
to any explanation of Nora's abrupt abandonment of her routine. His
recent visits at the flat had thrown him into the hospitable hands of
the inspector, who, however, had maintained an incomprehensible silence
as to his daughter's whereabouts. Garth could read in this attitude no
antagonism to his own ambitions. He was confident that the result of
his campaign for Nora's heart depended wholly on the girl herself.

He realized it was growing late. Absent-mindedly he turned into a side
street, intending to reach Third Avenue and climb the steps of the
nearest elevated station.

It was the discreet murmuring of a motor that routed finally his
preoccupation. A limousine of an extravagant type had halted close to
the curb at the end of the block. It pointed a contrast which stir