eard, and the
aid which some thoughtful person had summoned arrived. Ephraim was
tenderly lifted and placed within the conveyance, and away it dashed
again, though almost without jar, and certainly without hindrance,
since everything on the street gives place to suffering.

By the time the hospital was reached the patient had recovered something
of his customary fortitude, but he was still too confused and distressed
to think clearly about his escaped charge and what should be done to find
her. As for Stiffleg:

"I hope I'll never see that cowardly, ungrateful beast again!" he
ejaculated; then resigned himself to the surgeon's hands.

That which Lady Jess had perceived in the distance and had followed so
wildly was the tall figure of a gentleman in a gray suit. He wore a gray
hat and blue glasses, such as her mother had pressed upon Mr. Hale's
acceptance during his brief stay at Sobrante.

"It's he! It certainly is he! Oh! Now I can tell him how sorry both
mother and I were that the 'boys' behaved so rudely. And he's a
lawyer. He's on the same business we are, if his is the other side. I
must stop him--quick!"

This might have been an easy thing to do, under Scruff's present rate
of speed; but, unfortunately, the tall man stepped into a hack, waiting
beside the plaza for stray passengers, and giving an order was driven
rapidly away.

For a long time Jessica kept that carriage in sight; then it turned a
corner into an avenue, where were hundreds more just like it, it seemed
to her, and she lost it among the many.

Even yet she pressed on determined. "In a city--it's just one city,
even if it is a big one--I shall find him if I keep on. I must. Go,
Scruff! The band is after you. Go! Go!"

The overtaxed burro had already "gone" to his fullest ability. He could
do no more, although his mistress whispered "sugar," "sweet cake"
and other tempting words. His excited pace dropped to the slowest of
walks, his breath came hardly, and finally he leaned himself against a
post and rested. When he had done so for some moments, Jessica turned
him about and looked backward, expecting to see Ephraim close behind.
But he was nowhere in sight; and in a flash of horror the girl realized
that she was lost.

CHAPTER XV

A NEW FRIEND FOR THE OLD

"Lost! I'm lost! Right here in this great city full of folks. It
seemed so easy to find Mr. Hale and it was so hard. There are so many
streets--which one is right? There are so