had said--really interview the
stranger--for, be it known, Alice was rather headstrong when opposed.

But she had no chance to carry out her resolution, for the simple
reason that the man himself acted to prevent it.

"Come, Alice! Please come!" pleaded Ruth, almost in a frenzy of fear.

And then the man, catching sight of the girls, who were in bold
relief in the gleam of the moonlight, on the white bridge, and
hearing their voices, stood still for a moment in a light patch. Then
he turned and went rapidly down the road, limping as he hurried
along.

So Alice had no chance to do as she had said she would.

"There he goes!" she exclaimed.

"So I see," responded Ruth with a sigh of relief. "Oh, I'm so glad!"

"I'm not!" declared Alice, and she really thought she meant it.
Perhaps she did.

"Oh, Alice!" exclaimed Ruth. "Suppose he had kept on?"

"Just what I wanted him to do. There's nothing very harmful in one
man, particularly as there are two of us, and we are so near the
house, and on a public road. Oh, it was the best chance we've yet had
of finding out who he is, and what he wants around here. And he had
to go and--spoil it!" Alice acted as though really grieved.

"We had better go back and tell Sandy or his father," suggested Ruth.
"They may want to chase him."

"Not much chance of catching him," replied Alice, ruefully. "See him
go, even if he is lame." The man was really making rapid progress
down the road in spite of his halting gait. "But come on," Alice
resumed, "we'll tell the men, and they can do as they like."

The two sisters hurried back to the farmhouse, and the message they
delivered caused some excitement. For all were more or less
interested in the mysterious man.

Sandy, Russ and Paul at once hurried out, and went in the direction
where Alice and Ruth had last seen the man. The girls, including Miss
Pennington and Miss Dixon, also went out to see what success should
attend the efforts of the young men. But it was the same as
before--there was no sign of the man. This was not strange, though,
considering that he might have slipped off at either side of the
road, and gone into hiding in the fields, or in a patch of woodland
nearby.

"Guess we'll have to give it up," said Russ, as he and the others
turned back. "I'd like to find out who he is, though."

"Do you suppose he could be one of those men who tried to get your
patent?" asked Alice. "I mean, he might be disguised."

"I hardl