"Your description hits the case in some respects, I admit," he observed, with an appreciative glance at Edith, who stood beside him outwardly calm and collected, though the hand that rested upon his arm was tense with repressed emotion, "but in others it is wide of its mark. You have her personal appearance, in a general way, and the dress happens to correspond in everything but the hat. You will observe that the lady wears a black hat with a scarlet wing instead of a brown one with black feathers. She did not arrive alone, either, as you perceive, we got off the train together."
The officer looked perplexed.
"What may your name be, sir, if you please?" he inquired, with more civility than he had yet shown.
"Royal Bryant, of the firm of Bryant & Co., Attorneys. Here is my card, and you can find me at my office between the hours of nine and four any day you may wish," the young man frankly returned, as he slipped the bit of pasteboard into the man's hand.
"And will you swear that you are not aiding and abetting this young lady in trying to escape the legal authority of friends in Boston?" questioned the policeman, as he sharply scanned the faces before him.
"Ahem! I was not aware that I was being examined under oath," responded the young lawyer, with quiet irony. "However, I am willing to give you my word of honor, as a gentleman, that this lady is accountable to no one in Boston for her movements."
"Well, I reckon I have made a mistake; but where in thunder, then, is the girl I'm after?" muttered the officer, with an anxious air.
"Does your telegram authorize you to arrest a runaway from Boston?" Mr. Bryant inquired, with every appearance of innocence.
"Yes, a girl from the smart set, who don't want any scandal over the matter," replied the man, referring again to the yellow slip in his hand.
"But she may not have come by the Boston and Albany line," objected Mr. Bryant. "There are several trains that leave the city from different stations about the same time; you may find your bird on a later train, Mr. Officer," he concluded, in a reassuring tone.