"Then hurry. Be sure and keep me informed of what you are doing when it's possible. I trust you to find her to-night."
She held out her hand, and Lawrence took it quickly. For an instant they stood looking into one another's eyes; then the woman threw back her head.
"You love my niece," she said rapidly. "You think there are insurmountable barriers between you. I tell you this, Barry Lawrence: The moment you bring Shirley back to me those barriers shall cease to exist. You understand? It shall be as if they had never been."
A flood of bright crimson leaped into Barry's face, and he stared at her, unable to credit his senses.
"But that will be—impossible!" he gasped. "I'm almost a—pauper! I have no position; my very name is—tarnished."
"Humph!" she exclaimed incredulously. "Tarnished through some fault of yours?"
"N-o; but everybody thinks——"
Her teeth came together with a click; her eyes were flashing. "Bah!" she retorted impatiently. "Do you suppose for a minute that I care what everybody thinks? I trust my own judgment, and it has never failed. If a man is clean and straight and decent, money isn't worth that!" She snapped her fingers. "I have more of it than I know what to do with. You understand? Well, go, then—and remember what I've said."
CHAPTER XXXVI.
TAKING UP THE TRAIL.