you. Maybe it's your beauty that has gone to my head; no man could
remain quite sane in your company." He turned his tired, bright
eyes upon her, and Lorelei stirred uncomfortably. "You're quite
different to what I first thought you."

"Oh no! I'm exactly what you thought. I've seen Mr. Wharton only
twice."

"He's crazy about you. He acts wholly upon impulse, of course. It
ought to be easy."

Merkle inquired the time of his chauffeur, then directed him to
turn homeward along the North Shore.

"I sha'n't be selfish and keep you out any longer, Miss Knight,"
he said. "If you don't mind I'll doze on the way in, and try to
figure out the next move in this Hammon affair."

The return trip was another hurtling rush through the night, in a
silence broken only by Merkle's demand for more speed whenever the
machine slackened its labor. The miles wheeled past; the Sound lay
to the right.

They were sweeping over a rolling North Shore road when suddenly
out of the blackness ahead blazed two blinding headlights. With
startling abruptness they appeared over the crest of a rise;
Merkle's driver swung to the right. But the road was narrow; a
trolley track was under construction, and along the edge of the
amasite was strewn a row of steel rails, guarded by occasional red
lanterns. The strange car held to its course; there was a blast of