Before I enter upon the personal statement which your flattering inquiry claims from me, pray bestow a moment's attention on this Document." She took the handbill from him.

By the last gleam of twilight she read the lines which set a price on her recovery--which published the description of her in pitiless print, like the description of a strayed dog.

No tender consideration had prepared her for the shock, no kind word softened it to her when it came.

The vagabond, whose cunning eyes watched her eagerly while she read, knew no more that the handbill which he had stolen had only been prepared in anticipation of the worst, and was only to be publicly used in the event of all more considerate means of tracing her being tried in vain--than she knew it.

The bill dropped from her hand; her face flushed deeply.