mrs. brevoort and ned strong had found, upon inquiry at the club-house, that kate had not been seen since she had wheeled away with them. they stood at a corner of the piazza and held council with each other.

“how careless you have been, mr. strong!” mrs. brevoort was saying, chidingly. “it is well that you have decided never to marry. how can a man who loses track of a sister hope to keep his eye on a wife?”

“you are exacting,” he returned. “why should i expect to perform miracles? i am not possessed of second-sight, nor of eyes in the back of my head. but, mrs. brevoort, it is a condition, not a theory, that confronts us, as a famous man once said. now, if you are tired of wheeling, won’t you walk over to our old house with me? kate did not come down the hill, you remember. i am inclined to think that something may have happened to her wheel, and that she stopped to have rudolph, our lodge-keeper, repair it. it is not much of a walk, by a short cut i know how to make.”

“i think, mr. strong,” answered mrs. brevoort, “that you had better go alone. it is getting late, and i must dress at once.”

“a woman’s eternal excuse for unsociability!” cried the youth petulantly. then[106] he grew beseeching. “i ask so few favors of you, mrs. brevoort,” he pleaded. “and, remember, kate may have met with an accident. she would feel very lonely in that old lodge if i had to go for a doctor. i appeal unselfishly to you, mrs. brevoort. walk over to the lodge with me. please do!”

mrs. brevoort gazed at the blue waters of the sound musingly. she was not anxious to bring a problem that must soon be solved to an issue at once. but she was really worried about kate strong and impatient to learn what had befallen her best friend. furthermore, she knew that the short cut to the manor-house was not a lover’s lane, in that the path for the most part demanded the single-file formation. her hesitation, therefore, was short-lived, and she was soon hurrying away from the club-house, with ned strong, in a gay mood, striding along at her side.

“i cannot understand, mr. strong,” she remarked severely, after they had left the main road and were following the narrow path that led toward the rear of the manor-house, “i cannot understand how you can be so light-hearted under these depressing circumstances.”

“the fact is, mrs. brevoort,” explained ned, “that i am not greatly worried about kate; and as for myself, i was never more contented in my life.”

he glanced back at mrs. brevoort merrily.

“and you will be late for dinner, too,” exclaimed his companion. “surely you are one man among many thousands, mr. strong, to grow jolly with such a dismal fate staring you in the face.”

[107]

the youth laughed aloud. then he half-turned around, and said, impressively:

“i eat nothing in these joyous days, mrs. brevoort. food has not passed my lips for a week. i live on air, i walk on air, i am an airy nothing with a local habitation and a name. speaking of that name, mrs. brevoort——”

“but we weren’t speaking of that name,” cried the little mondaine, emphatically. “you were talking about the ethereal nature of your favorite food. i am sorry to say that i require something more substantial than country air to satisfy my appetite. you will observe, mr. strong, that this is a veiled hint intended to make you increase your pace. at the rate at which you are now walking, it will be scandalously late before we get anything to eat.”

“alas,” cried ned, in assumed despair, “how little encouragement a man gets to cultivate the poetic side of his nature in these days! just look at this scene before us,” he continued, turning as they reached the top of a knoll that gave them a view of the sound and of the rear balcony of the manor-house. they stood in silence for a time, watching the changing tints that the early evening scattered with prodigality across the surface of the land-locked sea. over toward the long island shore a brilliantly lighted steamboat, a great hotel escaping by water toward the east, threw its merry gleam across the waves.

suddenly ned strong laid his hand excitedly on his companion’s arm.

“look,” he whispered, pointing to the balcony of the manor-house. “what is that?”

[108]

a small dark figure could be seen creeping toward one of the windows that opened on the balcony.

“there is a light inside the room,” exclaimed ned, almost trembling with excitement. at that instant the dark form arose from its recumbent attitude and stood in bold relief against the window. on the instant there came the crash of breaking glass, then silence.

“he’s a burglar!” exclaimed mrs. brevoort, her voice shaking perceptibly. somehow, she did not notice that ned strong’s arm had been thrown around her protectingly.

at that moment the sharp, evil crack of a pistol startled the night air.

“a burglar or a murderer,” muttered ned strong, awe-struck. “come,” he cried, almost carrying his companion forward in his excitement. “come, we must get to the lodge at once and find rudolph! come! quick!”