not to let you do this. You scarcely know me."

"Now, dear, no more of that. We have no time to lose. How long will it
take you to get dressed? Will half an hour do? It is getting late."

"Oh, it will not take long." She caught her breath with gladness. Her
companion's voice was so strong and comforting, his face so filled with a
wonderful love, that she felt dazed with the sudden joy of it all.

The elevator boy appeared in the doorway with the familiar suit-case.

"Don't be afraid, dear heart," whispered the young man, as he attended her
to the elevator. "I'll soon be back again, and then, _then_, we shall be
together!"

It was a large front room to which the boy took her. The ten-dollar bill
had proven effective. It was not a "fifty-cents-a-night" room. Some
one--some guest or kindly patron--had put a small illuminated text upon
the wall in a neat frame. It met her eye as she entered--"Rejoice and be
glad." Just a common little picture card, it was, with a phrase that has
become trite to many, yet it seemed a message to her, and her heart leaped
to obey. She went to the window to catch a glimpse of the man who would
soon be her husband, but he was not there, and the hurrying people
reminded her that she must hasten. Across the street a slouching figure in
a baggy coat looked fixedly up and caught her glance. She trembled and
drew back out of the sunshine, remembering what Dunham had told her about
the Irishman of the night before. With a quick instinct, she drew down the
shade, and locked her door.

[Illustration]