Chapter X. A Night of Terror

As poor, dazed, homeless Alida passed out into the street after the revelation
that she was not a wife and never had been, she heard a voice say, "Well,
Hanner wasn't long in bouncing the woman. I guess we'd better go up now.
Ferguson will need a lesson that he won't soon forget."

The speaker of these words was Mrs. Ferguson's brother, William Hackman, and
his companion was a detective. The wife had laid her still sleeping child
down on the lounge and was coolly completing Alida's preparations for dinner.
Her husband had sunk back into a chair and again buried his face in his hands.
He looked up with startled, bloodshot eyes as his brother-in-law and the
stranger entered, and then resumed his former attitude.

Mrs. Ferguson briefly related what had happened, and then said, "Take chairs
and draw up."

"I don't want any dinner," muttered the husband.

Mr. William Hackman now gave way to his irritation. Turning to his brother,
he relieved his mind as follows: "See here, Hank Ferguson, if you hadn't the
best wife in the land, this gentleman would now be giving you a promenade to
jail. I've left my work for weeks, and spent a sight of money to see that my
sister got her rights, and, by thunder! she's going to have 'em. We've
agreed to give you a chance to brace up and be a man. If we find out there
isn't any man in you, then you go to prison and hard labor to the full extent
of the law. We've fixed things so you can't play any more tricks. This man
is a private detective. As long as you do the square thing by your wife and
child, you'll be let alone. If you try to sneak off, you'll be nabbed. Now,