I could with difficulty repress an exclamation, and my heart climbed
into my throat. I was ready to face the Wolf in his den, but here was a
different matter. I recalled that Mrs. Knapp was a more intimate
acquaintance of Henry Wilton's than Doddridge Knapp had been, and I saw
Niagara ahead of my skiff.

"Yes, yes; quite likely," said my employer, referring to my story of
Wallbridge. "I heard something of the kind from my men. I'll know to-
morrow for certain, I expect. I forgot to tell you that the ladies
would want to see you. They have missed you lately." And the Wolf
motioned me to the door where the servant waited.

Here was a predicament. I was missed and wanted--and by the ladies. My
heart dropped back from my throat, and I felt it throbbing in the
lowest recesses of my boot-heels as I rose and followed my guide.




CHAPTER XII

LUELLA KNAPP


As the door swung open, my heart almost failed me. If there had been a
chance of escape I should have made the bolt, then and there.

I had not counted on an interview with the women of Doddridge Knapp's
family. I had, to be sure, vaguely foreseen the danger to come from
meeting them, but I had been confident that it would be easy to avoid