t in.

Keith, however, had seen the signal, and he walked boldly up to the door
of the private office.

"Mr. Wickersham is in, but he is engaged," said the man, rising hastily.

"I must see him immediately," said Keith, and opening the door, walked
straight in.

Wickersham was sitting at his desk poring over a ledger, and at the
sudden entrance he looked up, startled. When he saw who it was he sprang
to his feet, his face changing slightly. Just then one of the clerks
followed Keith.

As Keith, however, spoke quietly, Wickersham's expression changed, and
the next second he had recovered his composure and with it his
insolence.

"To what do I owe the honor of this unexpected visit?" he demanded, with
a curl of his lip.

Keith gave a little wave of his arm, as if he would sweep away his
insolence.

"I have come to warn you that old Adam Rawson is in town hunting you."

Wickersham's self-contained face paled suddenly, and he stepped a little
back. Then his eye fell on the clerk, who stood just inside the door.
"What do you want?" he demanded angrily. "---- you! can't you keep out
when a gentleman wants to see me on private business?"

The clerk hastily withdrew.

"What does he want?" he asked of Keith, with a dry voice.

"He is hunting for you. He wants to find his granddaughter, and he is
coming after you."

"What the ---- do I know about his granddaughter!" cried Wickersham.

"That is for you to say. He swears that he will kill you unless you
produce her. He is on his way here now, and I have hurried ahead to
warn you."

Wickersham's face, already pale, grew as white as death, for he read
conviction in Keith's tone. With an oath he turned to a bell and
rang it.

"Ring for a cab for me at once," he said to the clerk who appeared.
"Have it at my side entrance."

As Keith passed out he heard him say to the clerk:

"Tell any one who calls I have left town. I won't see a soul."

A little later an old man entered Wickersham & Company's office and
demanded to see F.C. Wickersham.

There was a flurry among the men there, for they all knew that something
unusual had occurred; and there was that about the massive, grim old
man, with his fierce eyes, that demanded attention.

On learning that Wickersham was not in, he said he would wait for him
and started to take a seat.

There was a whispered colloquy between two clerks, and then one of them
told him that Mr. Wickersham was not in the city. He had be