"Quite sure; she had cooked them breakfast and talked with Rene afterwards. She saw and spoke with both the women before they left in a wagon. They were on the Underground, bound for Canada, and safety." "Thank God! Oh, I thank God!" Her face sank until it was concealed within her hands. When it lifted again the eyes were brimming with tears. "I am so glad--so glad," she said simply. "Now I am strong enough to hear the rest, Lieutenant Knox. You must tell me." "There is not so much to tell, that I am cock-sure about." I began slowly. "Kirby had you securely hidden away somewhere on the second deck, while this Clark girl had been locked into a stateroom above. I possessed such a growth of beard and was altogether so disreputable looking as to be mistaken for a roustabout by the boat's officers, who set me at work to earn my passage. In this way I managed to talk with Elsie, but failed to locate your quarters. The only glimpse I gained of you was when you were being taken ashore. Then I followed, and a little later succeeded in getting you out of Kirby's hands. That is about all." "Oh, no, it is not--you--you came too late." "Too late! Perhaps I may know what you mean." "Do you? Surely not to blame me! I--I wish to tell you, Lieutenant Knox, but--but I scarcely know how. It is all so dim, indistinct in my own mind--and yet I remember. I am trying so hard to recall how it all happened, but nothing remains clear in my mind. Have I been drugged?" "Without question. We have been riding all night and you were strapped to your horse. Probably you have no recollection of this?" She shook her head in bewilderment, gazing about as though noting the strange surroundings for the first time. "No; the last I remember I was with Kirby and another man. He--he was dressed like a minister, but--but he was half drunk, and once he swore at me. The place where we were was a little shack in the side of a hill, with stone walls. Kirby took me there from the steamer, together with a man he called Rale--Jack Rale. They locked me in and left me alone until after dark. Then this other man, who dressed like a minister, came back with Kirby. They had food and something to drink with them, and lit a lamp, so that we could see. It was awfully dismal and dark in there." She pressed her hands to her head despairingly. "I can remember all this, but later it is not so clear; it fades out, like a dream." "Try to tell me all you can," I urged. "They fed you?" "Yes, I managed to eat a little, but I would not drink. They both became angry then and frightened me, but they did compel me to swallow some of the stuff. Then I became dazed and partially helpless. Oh, I cannot tell you; I do not really know myself--it seemed as though I had to do just what they told me; I had no will of my own, no power of resistance." "You were married to Kirby."