Plimpton bowed, though he did not approve of servants being hurried. He liked orders to be given in time. Nevertheless, he gave her message, and within half an hour she was in Mr. Overton’s drawing-room. The great man greeted her warmly. “Do you know, my dear Nellie,” he said, almost as he entered, “I was just thinking that I ought to have made an appointment to see you again. Of course you are in a hurry to get a complete schedule of your new possessions, and to know what you may count on in the future. Shall we say to-morrow--that is Saturday, isn’t it?--about three?” “Oh, there is not the least hurry about that,” returned Nellie, and her manner was unusually agitated, “any time you like. I did not come about that. I came to ask you if you knew where Bob is--Mr. Vickers, I mean?” “Yes,” said Overton, “I do!” “Something dreadful has happened,” Nellie went on with less and less composure. “I have only just found it out. As soon as our interview was over, James Emmons told me he meant to telegraph to Vickers’s Crossing, or whatever the name of the place is, for a warrant. He expects to be able to arrest Mr. Vickers at once.” “He does, does he--the hound!” cried Overton, for the first time losing his temper. He rang a bell, and when a servant answered it he ordered a trap to be ready at once. Returning to Nellie, he found that she had buried her face in her handkerchief, and he repented his violence. “There, there, forgive me, Miss Nellie,” he said. “I did not mean to call him a hound. I forgot that you were going to marry him.” “Oh, don’t apologize to me,” replied Nellie, with some animation; “I wish I had said it myself. I am not going to marry him.” The news startled Overton. “Why, is that wise, my dear child?” he said. “Perhaps neither of us does him justice. He is a good, steady, reliable man, and if I were you, I would not go back on him in a hurry.” “He is not any one of those things,” said Nellie, drying her eyes, and looking as dignified as the process allowed. “He is base. He took advantage of what he heard in confidence--of what he only heard at all because I made a point of his being there. Is that reliable, or steady? I call it dishonorable and I would rather die than marry such a creature, and so I told him.” “You know your own business best,” answered Overton, “but the world is a sad place for lonely women.” “It would be a very sad place for both James and me, if I married him feeling as I do,” said Nellie, and judging by her expression Overton was inclined to agree with her. “It was all very well while I could respect James, but now----” “Still, ordinary prudence--” the lawyer began, but she interrupted. “Don’t talk to me about ordinary prudence. That is what led me into the awful mistake of being engaged to him at all. I thought it would be wise. I used to get thinking about the future, and whether I should have anything to live on----” “And you don’t think of these things now?”