"But you must realize that if you don't go down he'll come here. I don't fancy he's the sort of man to take that long journey and be put off with a rebuff. From what I know of him he not only would drive up here, but, if you had gone off for the day, wait until you returned. I don't see how you can avoid him." "No, you are right. I shall have to see him--but what excuse can I give Lee? He must never know the truth, and he'll want to go with us." "I've thought of that. I'll tell him that Trent is sending up some important papers for you to sign, and as some one is obliged to go to Huntersville to check up the provisions that will arrive on the train tomorrow morning, I've told Trent's clerk to wait there, as I prefer to see to the other matter myself. I--I--hate deceiving Lee----" "So do I, but it cannot be helped. Did he bring me up here to get me away from Hohenhauer?" Mr. Dinwiddie's complexion suddenly looked darker in the light of the solitary candle. "Well--you see----" "I suspected it for a moment and then forgot it. No doubt it is the truth. So much the more reason why he should know nothing about that man's following me. Why should he be made uneasy--perhaps unhappy? But what excuse to go off without him?" "They have a Ford down there. I'll tell them to send that. With the provisions there'll be no room for four people." "That will answer. And I'll give Hohenhauer a piece of my mind." "But, Mary, you don't suppose that one of the most important men in Europe, with limited time at his disposal, would take that journey unless he had something very important indeed to say to you? Not even for your _beaux yeux_, I should think, or he'd have asked Trent to get him an invitation to spend several days at the camp. I must say I'm devoured with curiosity----" Mary shrugged her shoulders. "I'm too sleepy for curiosity. What time must we start?" "About nine, if the car gets here on time. It takes two hours to come up the mountain, and they'll hardly be induced to start before seven. I'll tell Larsing to telephone at six." "It's now eleven. We have eight hours for sleep. Good night, and believe that I am immensely grateful. You've arranged it all wonderfully." She stamped her foot as Mr. Dinwiddie silently closed the door. "Moritz! _What_ does he want? _Why_ has he followed me here? But he has no power whatever over my life, so why should I care what he wants? . . . But that this--this--should be interrupted!" She undressed without calm and slept ill. LV