"In his first report he told me the party I sought had been in Valetta
only recently, but he believed she was now gone.

"The man told me just now where Blanche Austin staid during her
residence here, at a house on the Strada Mezzodi, and I shall go as soon
as I leave you, to make inquiries there. If you are interested in my
story, you might, perhaps, care to hear what news I may pick up on my
visit to this house, which has so recently covered my mother."

"Indeed, I am more than interested in your story, and anxious to learn
how you succeed. Would you know your mother if you should meet her
to-day?" she asks, mentally wondering why he has taken her into his
confidence.

"I believe so. A son's loving eyes would do much toward solving the
problem."

"But your memory of her must be exceedingly hazy, to say the least."

"That is true; but I have another clew. Once, when a boy, I was rummaging
through some old papers in an antique secretary which I found in the
attic, when I ran across an ivory miniature that had been overlooked.

"Upon it was painted a girl's face; my heart told me who it was, and
underneath I found the words 'Blanche Austin at eighteen.'

"I have treasured that ever since; it has been my most valued possession.
Would you like to see it, Lady Ruth?"