Paula grew silent. How she wished herself back in Paris! It was all on account of that wretched inheritance! How she regretted having come to America to claim it! If she was nervous, who could wonder at it? The manoeuvres of her Uncle James, Mr. Cooley, and Dr. Zacharie were enough to unnerve any one. If they put her in an asylum, she would go really mad. She had heard and read so much of the terrors of private insane asylums. It was nothing but a living death. The horror of it seized upon her. Shaken by a sudden nervous trembling, she exclaimed fearfully: "Don't let them take me, Mr. Chase! Please don't let them take me away!" Tod put his arm around her sympathetically. He felt sorrier for her than he dare show. Never so much as now did he realize the place which this girl had taken in his life. Was it love? He did not know, but he certainly was more attracted to her than to any girl he had ever known. "No--no," he said reassuringly. "You're safe from them now. The Court order which they have secured is only good in New York State. In a few more minutes we shall be in New Jersey. They can't touch you there." "But afterward?" she asked. "What are we going to do when we get to Jersey." Tod grinned. "I haven't the remotest idea," he answered. "All I thought was getting away from those land sharks!" "But I must go somewhere," insisted Paula, who was beginning to feel uneasy, now that the first excitement of the escape was over. Until now she had not had a moment's leisure in which to think matters over calmly. "The important thing," said Tod decisively, "is to keep away from Messrs. Cooley, Marsh & Company. They must not know where you are. The best you can do is to go to Philadelphia, and engage rooms for an indefinite period at the Bellevue-Stratford. When I've seen you comfortably settled there I'll leave you and come back here to find Mr. Ricaby. Your lawyer must take immediate legal steps to have the committal order vacated on the ground of criminal conspiracy." "But how can I go to Philadelphia in this?" cried Paula, looking down in dismay at the simple house dress she was wearing. "I had no time to change. Why, I haven't even a toothbrush!" "Oh, that's nothing," rejoined Tod, with calm unconcern. "You can buy 'em by the dozen in Philadelphia. The main thing is to get you away as quickly as possible from the dangerous proximity of Mr. Cooley." "Look out! Look out, there!" A sudden warning shout from the group of passengers gathered in the fore part of the boat, followed by a succession of shrill blasts from the ferryboat's whistle, made them jump up with a start. They had been so busy talking that they had not paid much heed to what was going on around them. What they saw was sufficiently alarming.