If the pendulum of hope and despair swings one way, the unalterable
laws of mental gravitation compel it to go just as far the other, and
although I do not remember uttering so much as a word while we
traversed the crowded floor and gained entrance to the smaller room
beyond, yet my heart was singing a song of the deepest hope. The
apartment contained, as she prophesied, but few occupants, and I
conducted her to the farther end of it, where we found a comfortable
divan and no troublesome neighbors.

As I glanced at her now, I marked a distinct change in her face. The
old indifference, so well assumed while we were in the presence of
others, had utterly vanished as by magic, and she sat looking at me in
anxious yet impetuous questioning.

"Captain Wayne," she exclaimed, her eyes never once leaving my face,
"what does this mean? this masquerade? this wearing of the Federal
uniform? this taking of another's name? this being here at all?"

"If I should say that I came hoping to see you again," I answered,
scarce knowing how best to proceed or how far to put confidence in her,
"what would you think?"

The color flamed quickly into her cheeks, but the clear eyes never
faltered. They seemed to read my very soul.

"If that is true, that you were extremely foolish to take such a risk
for so small a reward," she returned calmly. "Nor, under these
circumstances, would I remain here so much as a moment to encourage
you. But it is not true. This is no light act; your very life must lie