Just the place for a quiet little visit." As the man spoke, he was eyeing her in a way that only served to confuse and frighten her the more.

Murmuring some inaudible reply, she again started to go.

But again he said, peremptorily, "Wait." And again, as if against her will, she paused.

"If you have no scruples about wandering over the mountains alone with that artist fellow, I do not see why you should hesitate to favor me." The man's words were, undoubtedly, prompted by what he firmly believed to be the nature of the relation between the girl and Aaron King--a belief for which he had, to his mind, sufficient evidence.

But Sibyl had no understanding of his meaning.