"Every little twist and turn of this story I had perfected beforehand; I could not see the possibility of a slip and there was no slip. It was made plain to Miss Dalton that, if she wished to see Robert under the unpleasant conditions, she would have to attire herself as a man, for she was likely to spend some time at least in the back room of a saloon. My messenger even took her a wig I had provided for the purpose, and she was informed that, if she wished to take along her own proper clothing, it would be quite possible to return in that." Utter admiration possessed Johnson Boller; yet Beatrice, as he knew, was watching him narrowly. "You--you contemptible scoundrel!" Johnson Boller said pleasantly. Him, too, Anthony ignored. "She took the bait, Dalton, just as I had planned. The man brought her to me at a point--er--outside this hotel, and she was dressed in her brother's clothing, as it appears now. It was agreed between us that she should take the name of David Prentiss for the evening, and under that name she was introduced to Hitchin here. After that she was brought to this apartment." Anthony paused and sighed heavily and impressively, an erring man borne down by his guilt. "Miss Dalton, even as a boy, did not look very much like a boy," he pursued. "It seemed better to me that she change to her own clothes, and I requested her to do so, on some pretext which, I am frank to say, slips my mind at the moment. She came into this room afterward and, as I had planned, a little luncheon was waiting for us. She drank a cup of coffee and--it had been drugged." "Where was Johnson Boller all this time?" Beatrice asked. Although Johnson Boller held his breath, Anthony Fry batted never an eyelash. Dignified, austere exponent of the rock-ribbed truth that he had once been, all his sails were set now and the rudder lashed in place for the sinful course. It would have been a downright effort just then for Anthony to have told the truth about anything whatever. "Johnson never came until an hour after it was over," he said. "He went to a prize fight, Mrs. Boller, and after that met some out-of-town people in the woolen trade and worked until nearly two this morning winding up a contract." "D'ye see?" said Johnson Boller, when his breath came back. "D'ye see? You had me down for everything that was worst in the world, kid, and now you hear the truth." All unaware was Anthony Fry of the sharp start of Hobart Hitchin. All unaware was he that the crime-student, rousing from his partially scared state, had smiled suddenly. All unaware, in fact, was Anthony, of the terrible slip he had just made. "That is almost all of the story," he said, with a miserable little smile at Dalton. "The young lady was taken, in an automobile, half-stupefied, to--a certain town in New Jersey, Dalton. She is unharmed and has been unharmed; that at least I am able to guarantee you." "And she's there now?" Dalton cried. "She is there now and----" "What town?"