Then the train steamed away out of the station, and there were tears in the eyes of both men, through which they saw dimly the pale and lovely face, on which a little hopeful smile was budding into bloom. The policeman made Sammy promise to keep a sharp lookout for the perfidious blonde, and to let him know if he found her, so that she might be arrested and punished for kidnapping the girl. Then the two separated, the policeman returning to his regular beat, and Sammy to the store, where he told the sympathetic young girls the story of his knightly deliverance of Kathleen, and became quite a hero in their admiring eyes. But gladdest of all was our beautiful Kathleen, speeding as fast as steam could carry her back to Boston and to papa, who must surely have come home ere now, and who would be so glad to see his little girl. CHAPTER XXIII. "PAPA, DARLING, IT IS I, YOUR LITTLE KATHLEEN!" The world says now I am dead; but, oh, Lean down and listen. 'Tis all in vain! Again in my heart bleeds the cruel blow; Again I am mad with the old-time pain! CARLOTTA PERRY. It snowed in Boston that night when Ivan Belmont came home on his usual mission--to extort money by begging, coaxing, threats or curses--(he usually tried all in succession before he succeeded)--from the rich widow, his mother, and the heiress, his sister. And he was wont to say on these occasions that he would almost rather _work_ for the money than to extort it from those two penurious women, they were so close-fisted and quarrelsome. It was quite true what he said. Money he _would_ have, but he was so spendthrift and reckless that his mother groaned in spirit over his excesses, and often flatly refused him a penny. Then he would have recourse to Alpine, and he never left until he secured it, although he invariably had to raise a storm before he succeeded. His periodical pirating visits grew to be deplored by the whole household, even by the servants, who knew that the effects of his demands were to be dreaded for days, in the increased harshness and ill-temper of the two women they served. To-night the contest had raged hotter than ever before and only the threat of criminal deeds, unless his demands were met, had sufficed to draw gold from the pockets of his relatives. Chuckling over his success, he left the house and prepared to face the raging storm outside on his way back to the distant city whence he had come. Crushing his hat down over his face, he hurried down the marble steps, pausing at the bottom in surprise at seeing the cloaked figure of a female in the act of ascending the steps. The glare of a street-lamp shone full on the scene. Curiosity prompted him to stare at the beautiful white face upraised timidly to his own. As he did so, his own face whitened with horror, his eyes dilated, his limbs trembled with fear.