This telegram reached Idle Hour late at night, and the next morning father and daughter were driven into Mount Hope. The pleasant life with its agreeable ordering which the general had known for ten peaceful years had resolved itself into a mad race with time. The fearful, the monstrous, seemed to reach out and grip him with skeleton fingers. Like the pale silent girl at his side, he was knowing the horror of death, and a horror that was beyond death. They stopped at the jail to say good-by to North, and were then driven rapidly to the station. The journey of about two hours seemed interminable, but they rarely spoke. Elizabeth did not change the position she had assumed when they took their seats. She leaned lightly against her father's broad shoulder and her hands were clasped in her lap. For weeks the situation had been absolutely pitiless. Their wrecked efforts were at the door of every hope, and if this mission failed--but it would not fail! All they had come to ask was the life of an innocent man, and surely the governor, unaffected by local prejudice, must realize John North's innocence. It was two o'clock when they reached their destination, and as they left the car the general said: "We will go to the hotel first. Either Judge Belknap will be there, or there will be some word for us." At the hotel they found, not Belknap, but a letter which he had left. The governor was suffering from a slight indisposition and was confined to the house. Belknap had made an appointment for him, and he would be expected. The general crushed the sheet of paper between his fingers with weary impatience. "We'll see the governor at once. I'll call a carriage," he said briefly. Five minutes later, when they had left the hotel, Elizabeth asked: "What did Judge Belknap say?" "Nothing, dear, nothing--the matter remains just as it was. The governor is expecting us." "What do you think, father? This is our last hope. Oh, do you realize that?" She rested her hand on his arm. "It's going to be all right!" her father assured her. Then there was silence between them until they drew up before the governor's house.