n he who was esteemed the readiest in his class, and he owed
her a grudge, if only for that. Smiling--it was a way of his when deeply
moved or deeply dangerous--he accosted her with smooth and treacherous
words.

"Don't scream, young lady; screaming will do you no good. Mr. Fellows
has left the business to me and I am quite competent to manage it. I am
from headquarters--a detective. Yesterday you aroused the manager's
suspicions, and I was detailed this morning to watch you. What do you
want from Mr. Stoughton's safe? An honest answer may help you. Nothing
else will."

[Illustration: "_She was ignorant of his presence_"]

"I want----" she hesitated, eyeing him over with an insight and an
undoubted air of self-command which told the hardy rascal that in this
woman he was likely to meet his match. "I want some securities of Mr.
Stoughton's which he has ordered me to dispose of for him. I am in his
confidence, as I can prove to you if you will give me the opportunity. I
have papers at home that will satisfy any one of my right to open this
safe and to negotiate such papers as are designated in Mr. Stoughton's
cablegrams."

"I don't doubt it." The words came easily from the mobile lips of the
wily Beau Johnson. "But it was not to do Mr. Stoughton's business that
you opened the safe just now. You have had no orders to-day; you had no
order yesterday. Another purpose is in your mind--a personal purpose. It
is this abuse of Mr. Stoughton's confidence which brings me here. _You
want three thousand dollars badly!_"

CHAPTER XIV

"_You do not answer_"

She recoiled. Strong as she was, she was not proof against this
surprise.

"How do you know that?" she asked, her voice losing its clear tone. "I
do not deny it, but how could you know what I thought to be a secret
between----"

"You and your lover? Well--we--the police know many things, young lady.
We have a gift. We also have a kind of foreknowledge. I could tell you
something of your future if you will deign to listen to me. Your lover
is an honest man. What do you suppose he will do when he hears that you
have been arrested for attempted burglary on your employer's effects?"

He had been slowly advancing as he reeled off these glib sentences, but
he paused as he met her smile. It was not of the same sort as his, but
it was not without a certain suggestiveness which he felt it would be
best for him to understand before he threw off his mask.

"I don't kno