"'Don't stop to talk,' I heard Miss Stella say. 'You must go at once. And no matter what you hear, do not return until I send you word.'
"Then I closed the door softly, as they stole down-stairs; and after a little again came the soft footfalls, this time going up the stairs."
There was a pause, and then the old woman crossed her hands in her lap, her eyes looking sternly into the face of Ashton-Kirk.
"It was only a few minutes after that," she said, "that I found Simon Morse dead in his chair."
[CHAPTER XIV]
Okiu Writes a Letter
Ashton-Kirk, a short time after the old servant woman left, rang for Fuller. When the latter entered he found his employer writing a telegram.
"Have you heard anything from O'Neill?" asked the secret agent.