"
Banneker nodded. "What would she have said if she could know that you,
an absolute stranger, had been the means of saving her from a terrific
scandal? Gives one a rather shivery feeling about the power and
responsibility of the press, doesn't it?"
"It would have been worse than murder," declared the veteran, with so
much feeling that his friend gave him a grateful look. "What's she doing
in New York? Is it safe?"
"Came on to see a specialist. Yes; it's all right. The Enderbys are
abroad."
"I see. How long since you'd seen her?"
"Before this trip? Last spring, when I took a fortnight off."
"You went clear West, just to see her?"
"Mainly. Partly, too, to get back to the restfulness of the place where
I never had any troubles. I've kept the little shack I used to own; pay
a local chap named Mindle to keep it in shape. So I just put in a week
of quiet there."
"You're a queer chap, Ban. And a loyal one."
"If I weren't loyal to Camilla Van Arsdale--" said Banneker, and left
the implication unconcluded.
"Another friend from your picturesque past is down below," said Edmonds,
and named Gardner.
"Lord! That fellow nearly cost me my life, last time we met," laughed
Banneker. Then his face altered. Pain drew its sharp lines there, pain
and the longing of old memories still unassuaged.
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