It was so like her—so indicative of a mental attitude invariably small and personal, that he could have smiled: "I can’t say, but probably Grasslands. The end of the route laid down isn’t so far from there." "Shall I go back to Grasslands?" He pondered a moment, then decided it was wiser to trust nothing to her, even so simple a matter as her withdrawal to the country. "No, stay where you are. There’d be a lot of questioning if you went, bothersome, hard to answer. When we have her I’ll let you know. For the rest of this afternoon I’ll be in town, in my room here on the floor below. If anything of moment should happen send for me, but don’t unless it’s vital. I’ll be busy getting things ready. Be silent, be grave, be hopeful—that’s all you have to do now." He left her, going directly to his room on a lower floor of the hotel. She felt numb and dazed, wondering how she was to live through the next twenty-four hours. Her parents returned from their drive and close on their entrance came a communication from the Whitney office, saying the jewels had been found and Mr. and Mrs. Janney were wanted downtown. In the midst of their bustling excitement she sat mute, following their movements with vacant eyes. She saw them leave in agitated haste, Mr. Janney forgetful of her, her mother throwing out phrases of comfort as she hurried to the door. She was glad when they were gone and she could be still, draw all her energies inward in the fight for endurance and courage. His coat off, the windows wide for such breaths of air as floated across the heated roofs, Ferguson paced back and forth with a long, even stride. His uncertainty was ended, the tension relaxed; he stood face to face with the event and measured it. His assurances to Suzanne that he would make no attempt to apprehend the kidnapers had been sops thrown to pacify her terror. He had no more intention of a supine acquiescence than Mrs. Janney would have had. Beyond the clearing of Esther, stood out the man’s desire to bring to justice the perpetrators of a foul and dastardly deed. Now, with their cards laid on the table, it rose higher, burned into a steady, hot blaze of rage and resolution. But between his desire and its fulfilment stretched a maze of difficulties. He saw at once what Larkin had seen—that their plan was as nearly impregnable as such a plan could be. Though he knew every mile of the country they had selected, he knew that the chances of waylaying or flanking them were ten to one against him. Numerous roads, north and south, led from the Cresson Pike, some to the shore drive along the Sound, some inland crossing the various highways that threaded the center of the Island. Any one of these might be chosen as the road down which their car would turn, and any one of them, winding through woods and lonely tracts of country, would offer avenues of escape.