eek from to-day, Ben," said Jim.

My knife and fork clattered to the floor!

"That's so; and now we are parted forever."

I was struck dumb--only one week to make good, to save the wreck from
total loss! Something must be done quickly. In the past everything I had
undertaken had been a failure, but I must persist. It was close to ten
o'clock--a bad time to begin, for my midnight correspondence had never
been correctly construed.

"When did you leave Gabrielle?" I asked, with an idea ranging in my
fancy. It was an intangible idea, but I thought it promised relief.

"About five o'clock to-day; we separated at the Gibsons'."

"You stay here till I come back, and go on eating, Jim," I directed, and
grabbing my hat I rushed for the door.

"Stop, Ben! Don't you do a thing to-night," commanded Jim. "What can you
do now? Don't you know you made a bad break the last time?"

But I kept right on and sent one more message from the nearest messenger
office. It was directed to Miss Tescheron at her home and read:

"Don't recall those wedding invitations till you see me to-morrow.

"BENJAMIN HOPKINS."

There was just enough of the indefinite in that, I imagined, to suspend
operations; it would be a straw for the woman to clutch. She would not
risk the unpleasant notoriety of a wedding postponement, if there could
be a chance that she had acted impulsively at least, and had been misled
by circumstantial evidence she had ignored till there came into the case
the other-woman element. I did not fear the wound in her heart, unless
the gangrene of jealousy entered to prevent the successful issue of my
hastily arranged plan.

When I returned to the house, Jim was greatly disturbed.

"Ben, you have rushed out and sent another message; I can see it in your
face," he said. "What can you be thinking of? Why did you not wait till
to-morrow and talk this thing over?"

"You leave this matter to me," said I.

"Yes--I did that before."

"But you took a bath contrary to my advice." Tinkering middlemen and
ferrets can squeeze through small holes.

I determined to stop proceedings in Ninety-sixth Street, if such a thing
were possible. It seemed nervy for me to interfere now, but it was a
long shot and I determined to take it. What I would do to cement the
break I really knew not, but trusted to luck.

Jim did not yet know about the Browning woman and the interest he was
supposed