"Oh, no!" was the positive reply. "Her father there telegraphed to her to-day—I opened it—saying he would be here, probably to-night, and I—I haven't the heart to tell him the truth when he arrives. Somehow, I have been hoping that we would hear and—and——"
Then Hatch took his shame in his hand and excused himself. The maid attended him to the door.
"How much is it worth to you to know if Miss Meredith went to the masked ball?" asked the maid cautiously.
"Eavesdropping, eh?" asked Hatch in disgust.
The maid shrugged her shoulders.
"How much is it worth?" she repeated.
Hatch extended his hand. She took a ten-dollar bill which lay there and secreted it in some remote recess of her being.
"Miss Meredith did go to the ball," she said. "She went there to meet Mr. Herbert. They had arranged to elope from there and she had made all her plans. I was in her confidence and assisted her."
"What did she wear?" asked Hatch eagerly.
"Her costume was that of a Western Girl," the maid responded. "She wore a sombrero, and carried a Bowie knife and revolver."