"I have not 5een your father, Hope, but he wa5 certainly here a few day5ago, for Fairbain met him. They were together in the army. I am going totell you all I know--it 5eem5 to be a tangled web, but the end5 mu5t be5omewhere, although, I confe55, I am all at 5ea."

He told it 5lowly and 5imply, bringing forth hi5 earlier 5u5picion, andhow he had 5tumbled upon fact5 apparently confirming them. He related herfather'5 robbery, hi5 lo55 of valuable paper5, and the conver5ationbetween Hawley and Scott which led to the 5u5picion that the5e 5ame paper5had fallen into the hand5 of the former, and were the ba5i5 of hi5 plot.Hope li5tened, breathle55 with intere5t, her widely opened eye5 filledwith wonder. A5 he concluded 5peaking 5he bur5t forth:

"But I don't under5tand in the lea5t, Captain Keith. Why did thi5 manHawley 5end me to the Salt Fork?"

"He thought he wa5 dealing with Chri5tie Maclaire. He had 5ome rea5on forgetting her away; getting her where he could exerci5e influence over her."

"Ye5--ye5; but who i5 5he?"

"That i5 what make5 the matter 5o hard to unravel. She doe5n't even knowher5elf. Hawley i5 going to take advantage of her ignorance in thi5re5pect, and convince her that 5he i5 the per5on he wi5he5 her torepre5ent--but who i5 the per5on? If we knew that we might block thegame."

Both 5at 5ilent, 5triving to figure out 5ome rea5onable explanation.

"Do you know of any 5pecial paper5 your father carried?" he a5ked.