LIV

As they left the boathouse an hour later and walked up the steep path

to the camp, once more that sense of coming disaster drove into her

mind and banished the memory of the past hour, when she had forgotten

it. What did it mean? She recalled that she had had dark

presentiments before in her life, and they had always come in the form

of this sudden mental invasion, as if some malignant homeless spirit

exulted in being the first to hint at the misfortune to come.

But the camp was silent. Every one, apparently, had gone to bed, and

slept the sleep of valiant souls and weary bodies. One lamp burned in

the living-room, and Clavering turned it out and they parted

lingeringly, and she went up to her room.

She had barely taken off her coat and scarf when she heard a tap on her

door. She stared for a moment in panic, then crossed the room swiftly

and opened it. Mr. Dinwiddie, wrapped against the cold in a padded

dressing-gown and with noiseless slippers on his feet, entered and

closed the door behind him.

"What has happened?" she demanded sharply. "Something. I know it."

"Don't look so frightened, my dear. I have no bad news for you. Only

it's rather annoying, and I knew I shouldn't get a word alone with you

in the morning."

"What is it? What is it?"

"I had this telegram an hour ago from Trent." He took a sheet of paper

from the pocket of his dressing-gown, covered with handwriting. "Of

course those bumpkins down in Huntersville took their time about

telephoning it up. Luckily the telephone is over in Larsing's room----"

Mary had snatched the paper from his hand and was reading it aloud.

"Hohenhauer took morning train for Huntersville stop will spend night

there and go to camp in morning stop must see M. Z. stop don't let

anything prevent stop very important stop he will not ask you to put

him up stop thought best to warn you as you might be planning

expedition. Trent."

"Hohenhauer!" exclaimed Mary, and now, oddly enough, she felt only

astonishment and annoyance. "Why should he come all this way to see

me? He could have written if he had anything to say." And then she

added passionately, "I won't have him here!"

"I thought perhaps you'd rather go down to Huntersville to see him,"

said Mr. Dinwiddie, looking out of the window. "Besides, he would make

thirteen at table. I can take you down in the morning and telephone

him to wait for us at the same time I order the motor to be sent up."

"I don't know that I'll see him at all."

"But you must realize that if you don't go down he'll come here. I

don't fancy he's the sort of man to take that long journey and be put

off with a rebuff. From what I know of him he not only would drive up

here, but, if you had gone off for the day, wait until you returned. I

don't see how you can avoid him."

"No, you are right. I shall have to see him--but what excuse can I

give Lee? He must never know the truth, and he'll want to go with us."

"I've thought of that. I'll tell him that Trent is sending up some

important papers for you to sign, and as some one is obliged to go to

Huntersville to check up the provisions that will arrive on the train

tomorrow morning, I've told Trent's clerk to wait there, as I prefer to

see to the other matter myself. I--I--hate deceiving Lee----"

"So do I, but it cannot be helped. Did he bring me up here to get me

away from Hohenhauer?"

Mr. Dinwiddie's complexion suddenly looked darker in the light of the

solitary candle. "Well--you see----"

"I suspected it for a moment and then forgot it. No doubt it is the

truth. So much the more reason why he should know nothing about that

man's following me. Why should he be made uneasy--perhaps unhappy?

But what excuse to go off without him?"

"They have a Ford down there. I'll tell them to send that. With the

provisions there'll be no room for four people."

"That will answer. And I'll give Hohenhauer a piece of my mind."

"But, Mary, you don't suppose that one of the most important men in

Europe, with limited time at his disposal, would take that journey

unless he had something very important indeed to say to you? Not even

for your _beaux yeux_, I should think, or he'd have asked Trent to get

him an invitation to spend several days at the camp. I must say I'm

devoured with curiosity----"

Mary shrugged her shoulders. "I'm too sleepy for curiosity. What time

must we start?"

"About nine, if the car gets here on time. It takes two hours to come

up the mountain, and they'll hardly be induced to start before seven.

I'll tell Larsing to telephone at six."

"It's now eleven. We have eight hours for sleep. Good night, and

believe that I am immensely grateful. You've arranged it all

wonderfully."

She stamped her foot as Mr. Dinwiddie silently closed the door.

"Moritz! _What_ does he want? _Why_ has he followed me here? But he

has no power whatever over my life, so why should I care what he wants?

. . . But that this--this--should be interrupted!"

She undressed without calm and slept ill.