"Oh, I couldn't,--I COULDN'T have done anything bad. I couldn't--" "God bless you, of course you couldn't," cried the older woman, stroking the girl's hair. "Do you think this coffee will keep you awake?" She poured out a steaming cup and dropped two lumps of sugar into it. "I sha'n't go to sleep anyway, Auntie, so--" The ringing of the door bell startled them. Alix sprang to her feet in alarm. "Don't go to the door!" she cried. "It's--it's Courtney Thane!" "Nonsense! He'll not be coming here. Sit down. I'll inquire who it is before I open the door." "Under no circumstances are you to let him in, Mrs. Strong," ordered Alix peremptorily. "I should say not! It would look pretty, wouldn't it, if the papers came out and said the notorious bandit was captured in the home of Miss Alix Crown, the beautiful and wealthy heiress? They always--" The bell rang again. "Put the cream in yourself, Alix. I'll see who it is." Alix followed her with anxious, apprehensive eyes as she passed into the hall. She heard the following dialogue: "Who is it?" "Does Miss Crown live here?" came in a clear, boyish voice from the outside. "She does. Who are you and what do you want?" "I'm a messenger boy. I got a letter for her." "A letter? Who's it from?" "Say, open up! I can't stand out here all night." "Who is it from?" repeated Mrs. Strong firmly. "How do I know? I ain't no mind-reader." Mrs. Strong looked in at Alix. "I guess it's all right, isn't it?" "Open the door," said Alix quietly. A small, shivering messenger boy in uniform entered. "Are you Miss Crown?" "No, I'm not. Where's the letter?" "I got to deliver it to her. If she ain't here I'm to wait. I got to get an answer." Alix came forward. "I am Miss Crown. Come in, my boy, and warm yourself by the fire." "Sign here," said the boy, indicating a line in his receipt book. While Alix was signing her name, Mrs. Strong looked the boy over. "Dear me, you must be nearly frozen, child. No overcoat on a night like this. Did you come all the way out here from the city on a bicycle?" "Give him some coffee, Mrs. Strong," said Alix, handing back the book and receiving the envelope in return. "I got a taxi waiting for me out in front," said the boy. "Say, what's goin' on in this burg? We been held up three times, and just now a man stopped me out here in the yard and--" "What's the matter, Alix?" cried Mrs. Strong. The girl was staring at the address on the envelope. Doubt, wonder, incredulity filled her eyes. "Why,--why, Auntie,--it's David's writing! David's!" she cried. "See! Isn't it? I would recognize it--" "Bless my soul, so it is!" exclaimed David's mother. "Oh,--what does it mean? Boy, where did you get this letter?" Her voice trembled with excitement, her eyes were gleaming. "Never mind," put in Mrs. Strong, turning her head to hide a smile. "You run upstairs and read it, Alix, and I--"