knew nothing about; he resolved to allow some
thinking-time to cope with them when, as, and if.

In the meantime, the summer was coming closer.

He prepared to make a visible show of having Mr. Charles Maxwell leave
for a protracted summer travel. This would ease the growing problem of
providing solid evidence of Maxwell's presence during the increasing
frequency of Tim Fisher's visits and the widening circle of Mrs. Bagley's
acquaintances in Shipmont. At the same time he and Martha would make a
return from the Bolton School for Youth. This would allow them their
freedom for the summer; for the first time James looked forward to it.
Martha Bagley was progressing rapidly. This summer would see her over and
done with the scatter-brain prattle that gave equal weight to fact or
fancy. Her store of information was growing; she could be relied upon to
maintain a fairly secure cover. Her logic was not to James Holden's
complete satisfaction but she accepted most of his direction as necessary
information to be acted upon now and reasoned later.

In the solving of his immediate problems, James can be forgiven for
putting Paul Brennan out of his mind.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

But Paul Brennan was still alive, and he had not forgotten.

While James was, with astonishing success, building a life for himself in
hiding, Brennan did everything he could to find him. That is to say, he
did everything that--under the circumstances--he could afford to do.

The thing was, the boy had got clean away, without a trace.

When James escaped for the third, and very successful, time, Brennan was
helpless. James had planned well. He had learned from his first two
efforts. The first escape was a blind run toward a predictable objective;
all right, that was a danger to be avoided. His second was entirely
successful--until James created his own area of danger. Another lesson
learned.

The third was planned with as much care as Napoleon's deliverance from
the island.

James had started by choosing his time. He'd waited until Easter Week.
He'd had a solid ten days during which he would be only one of countless
thousands of children on the streets; there would be no slight suspicion
because he was out when others were in.

* * * * *

James didn't go to school that day. That was common; children in the
lower grades are often absent, and no one asks a question until they
return, with the proper note from the p