The houses were scattered, the vacant spaces between grown up to weeds, and more or less ornamented by tin cans, and as she advanced she encountered only two pedestrians--a cowboy, so drunk that he hung desperately to the upper board of a fence in order to let her pass, staring at her as if she was some vision, and a burly fellow in a checked suit, with some mail in his hand, who stopped after they had passed each other, and gazed back at her as though more than ordinarily interested.

From the hotel stoop he watched until she vanished within the general store, which contained the post-office.
Through the rude window the clerk pushed a plain manila envelope into her outstretched hand.

Evidently from the thinness of the letter, Farriss had but few instructions to give and, thrusting the unopened missive into her hand-bag, she retraced her steps to her room.
There she vented a startled gasp.

The suitcase which she had left closed upon the floor was open--wide open--its contents disarranged.
Some one had rummaged it thoroughly.

And Miss Donovan knew that she was under suspicion..