It was all owing to a certain clock which had taken a notion to get ahead of its fellows and was some ten minutes fast.
A lamp set Chicago on fire.
So this unlucky clock upset the beautiful plans of the wily detective, as he believed, and came near leaving him in the lurch.
By chance he was down near the corner when suddenly he saw a female hurrying that way.
A long cloak concealed her figure, but a handsome dress of white silk peeped below—a heavy veil had been snatched up to hide her face and serve in lieu of a hat at the same time.
Where she came from he hardly knew, but a terrible fear almost palsied him.
It was Lillian!
She had come ahead of time—Joe would not be ready, and as a result confusion must ensue.
Luckily the detective was a man able to grasp an emergency.
He never yet had seen the time when he was so taken by surprise that his mind refused to do its work.