I did it and he went away. It must have sounded terrible
nonsense to you, of course, but it was the only way I could think of to
get him out of the place. He left convinced that you were not coming
here to-night."
"Do you know who he was, this man?" Vine asked.
"I do not," she answered, "but I can guess who his employers are."
"And so can I," Vine said grimly. "It seems to me that you are a very
plucky young lady, Miss Longworth."
"Not at all," she answered. "What I have done, I have done for the sake
of reward."
"Will you name it?" he asked.
"I want that paper to take back to my uncle," she said. "Stella stole it
from me brutally, and unless I can get it back again, my uncle is going
to send me back to the little farmhouse where I came from, and is going
to leave off helping my people. I want that paper back, Mr. Vine, and
you must give it to me."
He looked at her with utterly impassive face.
"I am afraid, Miss Longworth," he said, "that I must disappoint you. If
I gave you back that paper, it would go into the hands of one of the
most unprincipled men in America. It is not only your uncle whom I
dislike, but his methods, his craft, his infernal, incarnate
selfishness.
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