"If it is in man's power to save her," said Garden, gazing earnestly at her sweet, imploring face, "I will save her." "It _is_ in your power, is it not? You believe it is in your power?" "Yes, Miss Lethbridge; I firmly believe it." All this time she had held his hand, and now she lowered her face to it; and a thrill ran through Garden's frame as he felt the soft pressure of her lips. Then Fanny turned and went to her mother's side, and folded her in her arms. CHAPTER XV. A STRANGE EXPERIMENT. At an hour past midnight Fred Cornwall called for Aunt Leth in a closed carriage, drawn by a pair of smart horses. Aunt Leth, warmly enveloped in a cloak which entirely covered her dress, was waiting for him. Parting from her family with tears and kisses and blessings, she accompanied Fred to the carriage, and they drove slowly off in the direction of Parksides. About a mile behind them, on the same road, trotted a horse attached to a dog-cart. Garden was driving, and Tom Barley sat by his side. On the back seat sat a groom. "What I want you to do, Tom," said Garden, "is to go over the ground exactly as you did on the night of the murder. Where you stopped then, I want you to stop now; and it will be all the better if you can remember the exact turns you took on that occasion." "There's no fear, sir, of my not being able to remember. Day and night I think of nothing else." "And now tell me again what occurred on the night Miss Farebrother was turned from her father's house, and you rode with her to London on that scoundrel Pamflett's horse." Engaged in conversation, they drove along until they heard the sound of carriage-wheels in front of them; and presently, through the darkness, they discerned the carriage. "Hold the horse, Tom," said Garden. "That carriage seems to be going the same road as we are, and I want to be certain that we are going right." "We are going quite right, sir. I could take you blindfold, I believe." "I dare say, Tom," said Garden, jumping down from the dog-cart; "but I am a self-willed fellow, and I would not make a mistake to-night for all the gold in the world. We have plenty of time, have we not?" "Plenty, sir." "Stop here, then. I will rejoin you presently." He ran and called after the carriage; and the coachman, obeying instructions from some one inside, pulled up. In a breathless state, Garden presented himself at the carriage door. "Are you all right and comfortable?" he gasped. "Yes, Dick," replied Fred. "And you?" "Everything is going on splendidly," said Garden. "A bright night, Mrs. Lethbridge, isn't it?" She pressed his hand in acquiescence, her voice failing her when she tried to answer him. It was a singular opinion to have of a night so dark that they could scarcely see a dozen yards before them. "You must take care and not catch cold," said Garden. "Was Miss Lethbridge well when you left her?" Fred replied for Aunt Leth. "Yes, Dick; and she sent you the kindest of messages."