The next afternoon Gerald was in London. All the way up in the train he had reflected upon the extraordinary events which had transferred Mavis from the keeping of Major Rebb to his own. In spite of surrounding dangers--and these were great--he was not at all downcast. Mavis had been protected so far, and he made sure that she would be protected to the end, which in this case meant marriage with him. The Major would never believe that Haskins had anything to do with the girl's flight, though he certainly might suspect Arnold. But if Arnold were traced to Exeter, where he intended to stay, to suspicion, nothing could be learned likely to incriminate him. Mavis had already gone down to Exmouth in Sammy Lee's , and that faithful fellow swore that he could her a passage to the Thames in a coaster owned by a comrade in whom he could trust.  
Things were therefore right so far, and Gerald's spirits were high. He had every reason to feel happy. Mavis was deeply in love with him, and once Major Rebb was as it appeared he would be--there would be no one else to with the progress of his suit. Before the end of the year Gerald hoped that he would be able to introduce his beautiful bride to his London friends, and place her in a position warranted by her wealth. It would not have been human if Haskins had not remembered that Mavis was an heiress, but, in justice to him, it must be admitted that his love was for the girl, and not for her money--welcome as it was to a young man who liked the pleasant things of this life. Gerald would have been to take Mavis without a sixpence; nevertheless, it was not disagreeable to find that she was bringing six thousand a year along with her.
 
Also Gerald was human enough to desire a certain amount of revenge on Major Rebb for his behavior. Rebb certainly should be punished for the way in which he had treated the girl. Hitherto everything had gone as he desired, but with the finding of the came the change in Rebb's fortunes. Now he had a young man to deal with, who would be less easy to manage than an unsophisticated girl. Haskins as he thought how angry Rebb would be when Mavis, free from the on her , and from the wicked charge which he was striving to fasten on her, came boldly to face the world. Then the Major, as Mrs. Geary , reduced to his five or six hundred a year, would no longer be able to indulge in motor cars, or in such-like luxuries.
 
When Haskins next evening went to Bloomsbury to see Mrs. Pelham Odin he felt very satisfied. Mavis was on her way to London, and would arrive at Gravesend in two days; her pursuers had been thrown off the track, and a bombshell with regard to the will was being prepared by Tod Macandrew. Gerald had not seen him yet, but he expected to meet him at the flat of the old actress, and then could arrange for certain steps to be taken in the interests of Mavis. All things considered, everything was going excellently, and Gerald entered into the presence of Mrs. Pelham Odin with a very cheerful air.
 
That lady remarked his beaming face. She was as usual reclining on the sofa in an effective attitude, waiting until ten o'clock, which was the hour at which she usually went to the Belver Theatre to fetch back her adopted daughter. She had been reading the evening paper, but threw it aside with an air of relief when Haskins was announced. "I am so glad to see you," said Mrs. Pelham Odin, "there is nothing in the papers. Dear me, Mr. Haskins, you have the air of a bridegroom."
 
"Nothing in the papers?" echoed Gerald, his bright face growing grave. "Do you mean to say that the murder is not reported!" And he took up The Globe to skim the columns.
 
"Murder!" cried Mrs. Pelham Odin, in the low thrilling tone of Lady Macbeth. "To what dastardly deed do you refer?"
 
"The woman who watched Mavis Durham has been stabbed to the heart, a couple of days ago."
 
"! for your comedy," cried the actress, "it has changed into a tragedy. What of the girl herself?"
 
"She is a , the police are looking for her."
 
Mrs. Pelham Odin screamed melodramatically. "Is she accused?"
 
"Yes. And color is lent to the by the scandal of Major Rebb, who, as I told you, spread the report that she was insane."
 
Mrs. Pelham Odin gave a second scream, and flung up her hand. "Hold!" she cried, in her deep voice. "Do I understand that this unfortunate young woman has given way to her and has murdered----"
 
"No one. I tell you she is not insane," snapped Haskins .
 
"But the ? Account for the corpse."
 
"I can't, unless Rebb himself murdered the woman, so as to get Mavis placed in an , and so be free to enjoy her money."
 
Mrs. Pelham Odin rose and walked to and fro with a nervous , less than real, although instinct made her it. "I don't love Major Rebb," she said, after a pause. "I think I told you that before. All the same, he would never, never go so far as crime."
 
"He has gone as far as that already," retorted Haskins, stretching out his long legs and looking gloomily at the carpet, "what do you call keeping that girl's money from her and shutting her up but criminal?"
 
"Still if he had reasons--good reasons?"
 
"He had none, either good or bad. Dear Mrs. Pelham Odin," Gerald rose, and laid his hand on the old woman's arm, "hear what I have to say. This is the time when you can show yourself my friend by protecting one who is dear to me."
 
The actress , powerfully effected and very genuinely. "I cannot mix myself up in a crime," she .
 
"You will not be doing so, if you substitute Mavis for Charity, as you suggested when I was last here."
 
"Oh," Mrs. Pelham Odin clasped her pretty, hands, and stepped back a pace to be more dramatic. "Think of the scandal."
 
"There will be no scandal."
 
"My name will be brought into disrepute. And let me tell you, Mr. Haskins, that my name both on and off the stage, is above reproach."
 
"I am quite sure of that, else I certainly should not ask you to take charge of the woman I hope to make my wife."
 
"You will marry her still?"
 
"Of course, of course," said Haskins impatiently. "I love her more than ever. And even if I loved her less, I am not the man to desert a woman when she needs help so sorely."
 
"You are, as I know, very ."
 
"And you are, as I know, the kindest-hearted woman in the world."
 
"A fool, a fool, I fear, like all kind-hearted women."
 
"No. Were you a fool I should not ask you to carry out this plot. As it is, Mavis is coming to London, and I want you to get Charity married at once, and to place Mavis at the Belver Theatre for the dance."
 
Mrs. Pelham Odin looked distinctly nervous. Carried away by her theatrical instincts, and by for Gerald's , to say nothing of the interest she felt in his love affair as a woman much less would have done, she had proposed the plot without thinking that she would be taken seriously. Yet here was a young man whom she admired actually asking her to lend herself to a fantastical mode of such as had never, to her knowledge, been seen off the stage. Her dramatic instinct her to yield: but her common-sense warned her against mixing herself up in a murder committed by a lunatic.
 
"Dear boy," she said, genuinely , "it really is impossible."
 
"You proposed it, Mrs. Pelham Odin," muttered Gerald, sorely disappointed, for if this actress did not help him, how was he to Mavis from the persecutions of Rebb?
 
"I did not think that you would take me at my word," she faltered, "and after all, Mr. Haskins, Major Rebb might find out."
 
"I don't think so. I don't see how he could."
 
"If he comes to the theatre?"
 
"He will see the girl he believes to be Charity, dancing."
 
"But is this Mavis Durham really so like my girl?"
 
"They might be sisters--they might be twins. It would take you all your time to find the difference between them, Mrs. Pelham Odin."
 
"Oh, that is impossible," she retorted sharply.
 
"No. When you see Mavis----"
 
"I am not going to see Mavis."
 
Gerald rose--he had thrown himself down when she so refused. "In that case I must apologize for taking up your time, and see in what other way I can save this innocent girl."
 
"You are sure that she is innocent?"
 
"As sure as I a............