“Who is Miss Carstairs?”

Hilda sat up. “She’s a friend of mine—”

“New?”

“Well, she is—but why do you ask?”

“Tell me what you know about her,” he said seriously.

“I’m afraid I can’t, John,” she replied, after a moment. “I’m under promise not to repeat what she told me.”

“That’s a pity. Where did you meet her? Glasgow?”

“No—on the train, last night.”

“Can’t you tell me where she came from?”

“I think I may tell you that much. Dunford is the name of the village.”