dedly, and
Crowley read the letter over a dozen times without being exactly sure
just what course he was to pursue. The truth was, Mr. Mern himself was
doing so much guessing as to Miss Kennard that he was in no state of
mind to give clean-cut commands.

Crowley's letter was the first intimation to the chief of the
whereabouts of his confidential secretary. She had not resigned, nor had
she asked for a leave of absence, nor had she bothered to write or
telephone; she did not show up at the office--that was all!

Lida, having discarded ethics, had decided to play her game from an
ambuscade, just as the Vose-Mern agency did its business.

To give any information to the foes of Echford Flagg would be giving
odds--and she was working single-handed and deserved odds for herself.
She resolved to make her game as peculiar as possible--to keep all of
them guessing--to oblige them to take the initiative against her if they
should find out the secret of her strange actions. The element of time
entered largely into her calculations: every day on which she stood
between them and Ward Latisan--every day that he devoted to the
drive--was a day to be charged to her side of the ledger; and there are
not many days in the driving season when the waters _are_ high and the
river is rushing.

A keener mind than Crowley's would have detected in Mern's letter all
the chief's inability to understand. What Crowley did get from the
letter was the conviction that Miss Kennard was not to be molested at
that time. Mern made that clear, though he was vague on other points.
The chief was wondering whether excess of zeal might be the reason for
Miss Kennard's amazing performance. He remembered certain hints which
she had dropped as to her financial needs, and she had not seemed
averse when he had told her on occasions that he thought of giving her a
commission when the right kind of a case came along. To turn a trick for
a rich corporation--working alone so that she might claim full
credit--undoubtedly had appealed to her as her great opportunity, Mern
reflected, and she had set off on her own hook, fearful that he would
not alter the arrangements he had made. He was angry; he muttered oaths
as he weighed the situation. But he did not put any of his anger into
his letter to Crowley. Miss Kennard knew too much about the general
inner workings of the agency! In this new case there was specifically a
five-thousand-dollar net fee in case Latisan could