"Glad to see you, Mr. Carshaw," said the little man. "Been here before? No? Charming town. None of the infernal racket of New York about life in Burlington. Any one who got bitten by that bug here would be afflicted like the Gadarene swine and rush into Lake Champlain. Walk to the hotel? It's a fine morning, and you'll get some bully views of the Adirondacks as you climb the hill." "Winifred is gone. Hasn't the Bureau kept you informed?" Clancy sighed. "I've had Winifred on my mind for days," he said irritably. "Can't you forget her for half an hour?" "She's gone, I tell you. Spirited away the very day I asked her to marry me." "Well, well. Why didn't you ask her sooner?" "I had to arrange my affairs. I am poor now. How could I marry Winifred under false pretenses?" "What, then? Did she love you for your supposed wealth?" "Mr. Clancy, I am tortured. Why have you brought me here?" "To stop you from playing Meiklejohn's game. I hear that you camp outside his apartment-house. You and I are going back to New York this very day, and the Bureau will soon find your Winifred. By the way, how did you happen onto the Senator's connection with the affair?" Taking hope, Carshaw told his story. Clancy listened while they breakfasted. Then he unfolded a record of local events. "The Bureau has known for some time that Senator Meiklejohn's past offered some rather remarkable problems," he said, dropping his bantering air and speaking seriously. "We have never ceased making guarded inquiries. I am here now for that very purpose. Some thirty years ago, on the death of his father, he and his brother, Ralph Vane Meiklejohn, inherited an old-established banking business in Vermont. Ralph was a bit of a rake, but local opinion regarded William as a steady-going, domesticated man who would uphold the family traditions. There was no ink on the blotter during upward of ten years, and William was already a candidate for Congress when Ralph was involved in a scandal which caused some talk at the time. The name of a governess in a local house was associated with his, and her name was Bartlett." Carshaw glanced at the detective with a quick uneasiness, which Clancy pretended not to notice.