d that the townsfolk should throw out the
"furriners" who desired the arrest of such a man.

Van Dusen was in a desperate hurry, but when he sensed the feeling of
the crowd, he was at pains to tell them, very simply, the facts. He
declared that, in all probability, the physician who had been guilty of
the kidnapping was a crazy man.

After touching at Atlantic, it was decided to sail the yacht to the
northward, along the mainland shore, with the little red skiff still in
tow. There was more depth of water on this side and, in consequence, a
larger number of inhabited points, from which news might be gathered. At
the end, there was a lighthouse, where the keeper would have seen every
boat that passed.

The yacht stopped at the Squire Goodwin landing. There they learned of
the recent presence of the physician and his patient. Thence, they went
on to the lighthouse, where they were reassured by the keeper's firm
assertion that the tender had not passed. It seemed to Van Dusen now
that the little boat must be bottled up, so that its discovery and
capture could be only a matter of a few hours. But there still remained
one tract to be explored.

For the voyaging over these shallows, the red skiff was needed. The
three men entered it, cast off from the yacht, hoisted sail, and set
forward toward the desolate land of the sand dunes, the wild ponies, the
goats and the beach-combers.... And it was Captain Ichabod who sat in
the stern, handling proudly both sheets and tiller.

CHAPTER XX

THE TRUTH UNALLOYED

The lowly home where Ethel had passed the previous night was as a palace
compared with this structure of beach-provided boards and shingles, over
the threshold of which she was ushered, supported on the arm of her
protector, Doctor Gifford Garnet. As she stepped over the sill, she had
a sense of apprehension, that ran over her flesh like chills. They were
the physical expression of fright. She was downright afraid of this
dark, dank, dungeon-like room. Her emotion was emphasized by a
realization that her escort was a mentally unbalanced, drug-mad man.
Ethel, realizing something of the danger in her environment, had set
herself to carry a bold demeanor. She would not let the man know either
her fears or her suspicions. She meant to assume toward him an air of
confidence.

There was a single window in the room, which had a wooden shutter, swung
on leather hinges. This was closed, so effectively that not a part