It was fortunate for Stephen that he had fallen into such kind and capable hands. He was lying, pale and emaciated, against the pillows that Mrs. Craddock prided herself upon possessing, and looked up with something like a smile when the Chief and Wayne entered. That mistake--that dreadful mistake that had landed him at the Grimes farm instead of the school for which he had yearned, was at last to be rectified. But it was not of himself, nor of the school that the boy wished to talk. He had escaped just when escape, for him, seemed impossible and he had resigned himself to die. Yet here he was, lying in a real bed for the first time in all those long years--he didn't know how many--enjoying comforts that he had forgotten existed and feeling that he never, never wanted to move his thin, wasted limbs from the cool, comforting linen on which they now rested. And back on the farm Mollie, his little companion in misery, even though she had now outgrown him, who had saved his life from the hands of the ogre, was every day still risking her life for others, not knowing at what moment the ogre's wrath would turn against her. It was of Mollie, that Splutters wanted to talk. Mollie must be saved. There was so much to tell. The lad was not naturally talkative, but the pent up thoughts of years were released when the flood-gates opened. The hill language which had been so foreign to him and which, by silence, he had struggled not to acquire, seemed to slip away from him with the fever, leaving the pure diction of his childhood that he had learned from his beloved books. Softly, gently, steadily he told his story. Twice they made him pause to rest. Several times Mrs. Craddock administered some medicinal preparation or held water to the pale lips. He knew nothing, however, of Mr. Wayne's little girl. "Show him that picture." Wayne looked up in surprise at the Chief's words. They were addressed to Burke, the detective who had been engaged in running down clues at the hotel and who now accompanied the party to the farmhouse. The latter reached into his pocket and drew forth a sheet of hotel stationery on which appeared a rough pencil sketch of a man's face. This he held where the boy could observe it closely. "Did you ever see anyone who looked like that come to the Grimes place?" the Chief asked.