ed it as cautiously as she could, crept out upon the narrow iron
balcony, and found a tall, dark figure looming up before her upon the
other.

"Give me your hands," said the gentleman, in a full, rich voice that won
the girl's heart at once, "then step upon the railing, and trust yourself
entirely to me; you will not fall."

Mona unhesitatingly reached out her hands to him; he grasped them firmly;
she stepped upon the railing, and the next moment was swung safely over
the space between the two balconies, and stood beside her unknown friend.

He went before her through the window, and assisted her into the darkened
room; the curtain was then lowered, and the gas turned up, and Mona found
herself in the presence of a tall, handsome man of about thirty-three
years, and a gentle, attractive-looking woman a few years his senior.

CHAPTER XV.

MONA'S ESCAPE.

The gentleman and lady both regarded the young girl with curious and
searching interest as she stood, flushed and panting from excitement,
in the center of the room beneath the blazing chandelier.

"Sit here, Miss Montague," said the gentleman, pulling forward a low
rocker for her, "but first," he added, with a pleasant smile, "allow me
to introduce myself. My name is Cutler--Justin Cutler, and this lady is
my sister, Miss Marie Cutler. Now, it is late--we will waive all
ceremony, so tell us at once about your trouble, and then we will see
if we cannot help you out of it."

Mona sat down and briefly related all that had occurred in connection
with her trip since she left New York, together with some of the
circumstances which she believed had made Mrs. Montague and Louis
Hamblin so resolute to force her into a marriage with the latter.

Her companions listened to her with deep interest, and it was plain to be
seen that all their warmest sympathies were enlisted in her cause.

Mr. Cutler expressed great indignation, and declared that Louis Hamblin
merited the severest sentence that the law could impose, but, of course,
he knew that nothing could be done to bring him to justice in that
strange country; so, after considering the matter for a while, he
concluded that the best way to release Mona from her difficulties would
be by the use of strategy.

"We are to leave on a steamer for New York to-morrow morning, and you
shall go with us," Mr. Cutler remarked, "and if we can get you away from
the hotel and on board the boat without young Hamblin's knowledge