CHAPTER XIII
FACE TO FACE
When the automobile left the garage and spun quietly down the thoroughfare, Mary Louise was amazed to find that she could not possibly fear this man. The sadness of the set face that was kept steadily upon the road was such that her kind heart ached for him.
Who was he? What could he be doing? She remembered with a quiver of dismay the letter she had seen addressed to Danny. What could Danny possibly have to do with him?
“After all,” thought Mary Louise, “how little Danny has ever told me of himself!” And the depression of the night seemed suddenly reflected in her spirits.
The car, being without lights, necessarily had to be driven very slowly, but at that they could not have been traveling for more than fifteen minutes when the man at the wheel turned the car into a narrow, grass-grown lane which ran along the edge of the marsh toward the river.
About half a mile down the lane he stopped the car. At the same time the wind died down and a tense quietness came over the feelings of Mary Louise as of breathless waiting. The man at the wheel stood up and carefully gazed across the low land toward a willow copse near the river’s edge. He stood quiet and intent for some few moments. Finally his search must have been rewarded, for with a sigh of relaxation he sank down in the seat again.
It was a full minute before Mary Louise could make out what the man’s sharp sight had detected. A dark object was bobbing and dipping over the marsh land.
She was instantly recalled from her discovery by the voice of her companion. It was a kindly voice though thick and nervous, and he spoke in jerks.
“Mary Louise,” he said, “I believe you are a friend of Danny’s. At least I know he is a true friend to you, as God knows he is to me! I’m Danny’s uncle, raised him from a kid, but I guess I’m no good. Anyhow, when Danny found I wasn’t square, he ran off and enlisted with the Canadians when the war broke out. But now that he knows they’ve found me out, he has done everything possible to help me—believes that blood is thicker than water, I guess. He took your car the night before your trip just to get me to the junction, for the Santa Fe Limited. I’m off for China. But Crocker came that night and we had to hide the car and ourselves.”
Mary Louise was breathless with interest as the man talked. But why should he be telling it to her? The voice jerked on.