“Justine alone knew where the document was; she has been only the agent of some one of the three; perhaps of all. A rich widow’s doctor too may be her nearest foe. Why in God’s name did you not have a reputable family physician? In your easy seclusion you thought yourself safe. “Now go away, and leave them all to me. All depends upon your absolute unconcern, and leaving them to me. The rats will come together as soon as you are out of the way.” When Hiram Endicott said adieu, it was with a last injunction to Elaine not to use either the telegraph or telephone in her absence. “The fact is, my dear child, if you had married some good man instead of dallying along with these discoveries, you would now be proof against all such attacks.” The grumbling old Judge thought of a golden-hearted, manly lover whose secret he had unwittingly surprised, and sighed when he was on his homeward way. “Given to a woman for her choice, a sly knave, a handsome fool, and a man really worthy of her, she will try either of the first two before ever thinking of the noble heart under her feet. The experience of every other woman seems to be merely thrown away. It is the song of the Pied Piper of Hamelin over again.” The old lawyer swore a deep oath in his rage. “If I can not protect her against the weaknesses of her own heart, I will at least punish some of these banded rascals. For they will soon fall into my trap.” To the astonishment of the mystified Justine Duprez, there was a new butler on duty in the “Circassia,” a man whose cold and piercing eyes made her tremble. And also a deft-handed, middle-aged American woman, whose husband, an extra servant, was evidently cast for “responsible duties.” And she could not divine the meaning of all this, but she was tied down to her lonely rack. The long day dragged away—a day of imprisonment and one of isolation. There was no visit of the ardent-eyed Vreeland, that envy of all rising men! And Doctor Hugo Alberg, too, was conspicuously absent. The Parisienne felt the toils closing around her, as her mistress called her to her side before dinner. But the “Madame” was perfectly unmoved. “I am leaving here for some weeks, Justine,” she carelessly said. “All your duties in my absence will be to continue to search this entire apartment with Miss Kelly for the paper, which I may have mislaid. Miss Kelly, who will remain here, will have entire charge in my name, and I expect you to remain here with her. You will thus have ample time to make a most careful search, and very likely you will find the paper, only a mere formal legal document.” The Frenchwoman gasped: “Of course, I am free to go out as I wish?” “Certainly, Justine,” was her mistress’ reply. “But always with Miss Kelly, as she may need you to help her at any moment. I leave her as my representative.”