“I quite approve of that,” said Kenyon, with candor. “But just what is it that the girl has discovered, or been told?” Farbush nodded toward the room which they had left a short time before. “She came here with him, for one thing; and she knows that my private safe contains matter of consequence.” “Oh!” “I cannot imagine how she ever became acquainted with that man.” He hesitated and then darted a quick look at Hong Yo; a new idea seeming to have entered his mind. “Can it be possible that Forrester has told her?” “He is not a fool,” replied the Chinaman. The other laughed. “There are times when I am not altogether sure of that,” returned he. “Witness his work,” with a gesture. “It is not the sort of thing to be proud of.” That there was a decided feeling between Farbush and Forrester seemed certain. From what the latter had said in the rear room of the “Far East,” Kenyon had begun to suspect this state of affairs; now he felt sure of it. “It’s a situation that may prove exceedingly useful in the future;” he told himself. “And I think I’ll do well to make a note of it.” “I warned you not to trust too much to him in the first place,” said Hong Yo. He coughed weakly, and applied his handkerchief to his lips. “He is young and without experience.” “The first of these I will grant you. But the last I must question. Was it not his manipulations that brought matters to a state where we could take hold? Is not that experience? Did it not apparently show talent?” There was a trace of anger in the man’s voice. But as the direction of the talk did not please Kenyon, he interposed, quietly: “Don’t forget that I have not a great deal of time. We were speaking of the girl, and of some information that she had gained. I’d like to be fully informed upon this point.” “Oh, yes. After all, that is the real kernel at the moment. You see, she came to me this morning and without any preamble asked me to turn over everything having to do with the case to her for examination.” “Humph! And did she state why?” “She volunteered nothing, save that it was her duty and her right to have a complete understanding of the affair. It is possible that she only suspected that I was possessed of what she desired to know, and assumed her air of positiveness to deceive me. When I refused she said that she would see Hong Yo--and, if she must--yourself!” Kenyon went on smoking quietly; if there was any surprise in this statement for him he did not show it. “She must be most anxious to obtain facts if she would go the length of asking Kenyon for them.” And Hong Yo laughed, his teeth showing hideously, as he did so. Farbush echoed the laugh. “That’s so,” said he. “She would be most anxious, indeed. For somehow, Kenyon, she doesn’t seem to have taken a fancy to you--that is, not the sort of fancy a girl should take to the man whom her friends have selected as her husband.”