He went forward till he could look into the front window of the restaurant, and he saw the actor and girl pass behind a screen down the room.
“I suppose the tables reserved for ladies must be down there,” muttered Frank. “Well, I don’t like the idea of playing the spy on anybody, and so I think I will let them alone.”
He walked on, but his sense of satisfaction had passed, and he was depressed. Although he tried to forget the actor and the girl, he found he could not do so.
Before the hotel was reached, he stopped short and stood in deep thought for some minutes. The blue eyes and innocent face of the girl haunted him.
“I can’t abandon her to what may happen!” he muttered. “No, even though I hate to play the spy. It is my duty to see that no harm comes to that foolish girl.”
He turned squarely about and retraced his steps.
Reaching the restaurant, he entered and walked down the room till he reached a table near the screen. There he took a seat, for, just as he reached that place he noticed a mirror set against the wall in such a position that it reflected a certain portion of the room beyond the screen, and that mirror showed him Dunton and the blue-eyed girl sitting at a table. Frank sat down where he could watch their every movement by aid of the mirror.
There were a number of couples in the room beyond the screen, and the sound of talk and laughter came plainly to Merry’s ears. Three men besides himself had taken seats in his part of the room.
Merry had sized up the place quickly. He decided that it was a second-rate restaurant, catering to the class of people who kept late hours.
A waiter came for his order, and Frank realized that he was hungry, so he ran over the bill of fare and ordered something he fancied would satisfy his appetite.