"Of course it is. Name, please." "Will it get into the papers?" "That's nothin' to me. Will you answer now, or do you want to stay here till mornin'?" "My name is Smith." "Place of residence?" "Brooklyn." "Who's the lady?" "My sister." "Step up here, lady, if you please!" Hugh felt the floor giving away beneath him. That Grace could not have heard a word of the foregoing examination, he was perfectly aware. Vainly, and with a movement of his lips, he essayed to convey the name she should answer. "Don't butt in, you!" was the instant warning given by the observant officer, and then-- "Lady, what is _your_ name?" For a moment the question bewildered the girl. With considerable misgiving she discerned that another occasion for prevarication was unavoidable, and something like a sigh escaped her lips; but as suddenly fear gave way to a feeling of elation. How clever Hugh would consider her remembrance of his instructions! What felicity to extricate him from this predicament! Alone, she would save the situation! Unblushingly, and with a glance at him for instant approval, she stepped forward and pronounced jubilantly the alias agreed upon: "Ridge--Miss Ridge is my name." A smothered exclamation of dismay burst from Hugh's lips. "Eh, what? Miss Ridge, and your brother's name--Smith?" ejaculated the man of authority. For a brief moment there was a pause of embarrassment; and then with a dazzling, bewitching smile directed at her questioner, she electrified them both: "Most assuredly. Mr. Smith is my half-brother." Hugh could have shouted for joy, as he watched the somewhat amused discomfiture of the officer. "Where do you live?" "St. Louis," gasped she, with blind confidence in luck. "Oh, humph! Well, wait a minute," he said, and both were gratified to see a good-natured grin on his face. "Buckley, see if there is a family named Smith in Brooklyn with connection in St. Louis. Sit down, Miss Ridge, please, and don't be worried. This is what we have to do. Your driver slugged another of his kind and he's likely to die of the fall he got. We'll have to use you as witnesses, that's all, an' we must have you where we can put our hands on you in the mornin'. The captain will be here in an hour or two and you can probably manage to give some kind of bond for your appearance. People like you don't like to appear in court, you see, so we've got to make sure of you." "But we must go to our--our dinner," she wailed so prettily that he coughed to cover his official severity. "Can't be helped, ma'am. Duty, you know. The captain will soon be here. Would you like to telephone, sir?"