As she did so the paper slipped from her hands to the floor.
She stooped to pick it up when an item headed, in large letters "Personal" caught her eye.
Without imagining that it could have any special interest for her, she glanced in an aimless way over it.
Suddenly every nerve was electrified.
"What is this?" she exclaimed, and read the paragraph again.
The following was the import of it:
"If Miss Allandale, who disappeared so suddenly from New York, on the 13th of last December, will call upon or send her address to Bryant & Co., Attorneys, No. —— Broadway, she will learn of something greatly to her advantage in a financial way."
"How very strange! What can it mean?" murmured the astonished girl, the rich color mounting to her brow as she realized that Royal Bryant must have inserted this "personal" in the paper in the hope that it would meet her eye.
"Who in the world is there to feel interested in me or my financial condition?" she continued, with a look of perplexity.
At first it occurred to her that Mr. Bryant might have taken this way to ascertain where she was from personal motives; but she soon discarded this thought, telling herself that he would never be guilty of practicing deception in any way to gain his ends. If he had simply desired her address he would have asked for that alone without the promise of any pecuniary reward.