“And how are we to guarantee that they will aid the ends of justice by identifying that which will help to prove the son of the one and the nephew of the other to be a thief, a perjurer, and an absconding vagabond? The reputation of both the firm and the family depends upon Hugh Stavanger’s safety. I firmly believe that they have already done some false swearing in the matter. Is it likely that they will reverse their former tactics and play into our hands now?” “I’m afraid you are right. Still, we have several things to fall back upon that will help us, even if the evidence of the ring proves valueless.” “It cannot prove valueless,” said Annie now, with considerable decision. “Captain Gerard will relate how he became possessed of it, and there is his letter to us by way of corroboration of his evidence. The Maltese jeweller will also help us, if necessary. So, even if we cannot bring the real culprits up for judgment, we can move for a new trial, and even if judge and jurors are as addlepated and obstinate as you would have us to believe, they must see that the case is much deeper and more complicated than they supposed. And if it is their natural propensity to doubt the word of people accused of crime, they will be as likely to exercise it upon the man now accused. Mr. Peary, our solicitor, must push things on without delay, and we will rely upon such evidence as we can produce, if we can secure a new trial. Meanwhile, there is still time to do some active work, and a plan I have in my head may result in the discovery of a clue to Hugh Stavanger’s whereabouts.” What that plan was Annie would not disclose, though pressed upon the point both by her father and the detective. The latter was very much annoyed at the turn events had taken, and was by no means sanguine as to the ultimate results of the investigations that were being pursued on Harley Riddell’s behalf. But he went away with a higher admiration of Annie Cory’s pluck than he had ever felt for that of any woman in his life. “She is game to the core,” he thought, “and if anybody can help the poor fellow in gaol, it is his sweetheart, who, it seems to me, cannot be daunted. She is one in a million. Most girls would have sat down and fretted, instead of trying to remedy the evil. Well, good luck to her, say I. If a girl like that doesn’t deserve to succeed, nobody does.” From which remarks it may be gathered that Mr. Gay was not one of those who, to cover their discomfiture, would begrudge success to another, because he or she did not happen to be in the profession. A few weeks later the “Merry Maid” was safely docked again, and Annie, accompanied by her father, and still figuring as Mr. Ernest Fraser, was sitting in the cabin of the steamer talking to Captain Gerard. They had awaited his arrival at the dock, being too impatient to stay at home until he had time to visit them.