The letter was unfolded. It was old, torn and begrimed from handling, for Stephen had looked at it often. When it was handed to Wayne, he stared in blank amazement. The signature was that of Wayne's sister who had died following an operation shortly after the letter was written. "She had planned to adopt him," Wayne explained to the astonished detectives. "He was an orphan. My sister had made all arrangements for his education. Quite a search was made for him but when my sister died it was abandoned. We all thought he ran away to avoid going to school." "And the picture,--do you know the likeness?" asked the Chief. "My sister," answered Wayne. "Poor little Stephen! God alone knows what happened to him. He must have recognized me. That's why he spoke as he did. For God's sake, Chief, clear up this tangle. It gets worse every minute. What about those children thrown in bogs, with broken arms and legs? That talk isn't delerium. If this boy is Stephen, and he's kept these means of identification all these years, the boy's got sense. He's trying to tell something. And by heavens, if they've got my baby in any such hellish hole with a crazy fiend in charge of her, I'll--I'll--Oh, my God, my God, this is killing me!" Then, suddenly drawing himself erect he started for the road. "I'll go out there alone, Chief, and I'll search that place myself," he thundered. Both the Chief and the farmer spoke in protest. "Yo' cain't git in," said the latter. "There's bogs all about th' place, 'cept, jist in front o' th' gate an' hit is ten foot high, with wire an' glass a-top an' a big bell ter ring. Ef he doan want ter see yo' he'll never open th' gate an' he mought fling th' leetle gal inter th' mire." "That's right," added the Chief. "You don't want to do anything rash. I'll leave a man here, as I said--Joe, you better stay," he added, turning to one of the detectives with them. "And the instant that boy can talk coherently you get word to me. There's a telephone down at the Murphy place. That's not far from here. Come on, Mr. Wayne. We'll go down and see what Burke has unearthed at the hotel. I'll have him make some inquiries there, as I said I would, about this man Grimes." CHAPTER XIX MOLLIE AT BAY "For the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand saying unto thee, 'Fear not; I will help thee.'"--Isaiah xl, 13 Baby Doris was blissfully unaware of danger. She awoke, not with the lark, but with the crowing of the old, dominique rooster under the barn window. It was dawn. Time for the children to get up and begin their day's work. Mollie hated to rouse them. She knelt for a moment beside the wonder-child that had been so unexpectedly given into her keeping the night before. "Oh, yo' darlin'--yo' wonderfulest baby!" she exclaimed, softly, pressing one of the dimpled hands against her lips. "I never seed ary thing so pretty in my life!"