"You mean——?" said Gardiner eagerly.
"I mean that," said Edith—"just that. You are here as the Mr. Gardiner I met in New York."
Gardiner's eyes sparkled. He looked at her, smiled, and then laughed.
"But mayn't I ask you anything about the—mystery?" he asked.
"I don't see what it has to do with me," replied Edith. "But I see your paper says they have been shanghaied? Tell me what that means."
He explained: no man knew better.
"You mean they have gone to sea as common sailors?" she exclaimed.
"That is the theory of the Chronicle" said Gardiner drily. "If we are right, it will do them both good."
"I'm rather sorry for Sibley Gawthrop," she said; but Gardiner was not so young as to be discouraged by her sympathy for Sibley.
"May I be sorry for him too?" asked Gardiner, boldly.