The detective and the girl traversed a mile and a half of the
beach and then struck inland, and soon came in sight of the
glimmer of lights gleaming forth from a fisherman's shanty.

"They meet there. You know how to act, and I can give you no
'points' when it comes to 'piping.' Good-bye for the
present."

The girl glided away and the detective proceeded toward the
cabin only to encounter a series of thrilling, extraordinary,
and startling adventures.




CHAPTER V.


Spencer Vance had become greatly interested in the beautiful
Renie during the walk along the beach. He had become deeply
impressed with the purity, yet weirdness of her character. He
had pressed the girl for some reminiscence of her early
childhood, but she had no recollections beyond the sea and the
fisherman's cabin where she had lived with old Tom Pearce and
his wife.

Her supposed father had for years rowed her every morning
across the bay to the mainland, where she had attended the
village school, from whence she had passed to the high school,
at which her reputed father had supported her for a couple of