Ringold had done earlier in the day, and begin to pack his
belongings. Partly out of deference to the frantic appeals of his
widowed mother, partly owing to the telephoned advice of Mr.
Michael Padden, of Sixth Avenue, who said the injured man had
recognized one of his assailants, he booked passage to Japan by
the next steamer out of Vancouver. He left New York that afternoon
by the Twentieth Century Limited, taking with him only one suit-
case and a determination to see the world.




III

A GAP


Strictly speaking, Kirk Anthony did not awake to a realization of
his surroundings, but became conscious of them through a long
process of dull, dreamy speculation. He never knew the precise
moment when his eyes opened and sleep left him, but at cost of
considerable mental effort he finally brought himself to the
conviction that hours had passed and another day had arrived. More
than once after long, white nights in New York City, he had
awakened amid strange surroundings and had been forced to wait
upon his lagging memory; but this time his mind refused to work,
even after he knew himself to be fully roused. So he closed his
eyes with the admonition:

"Now, begin all over again, Kirk. When you left Padden's place you