“Wire Chris Morgan, the first thing you do in the morning, to get rid of him. I don’t care how it is done, Nora, only we can’t afford to take any chances. Still, I don’t see how Patsy Garvan has been able to dig up anything that would be of service to him.�

“He might do that if only he knew where to dig,� was the significant reply; and it was responded to by a light peal of laughter from Madge. Then she added, perhaps irrelevantly:

“Nick Carter was at the opera to-night.�

“Watching you, Madge?�

“Surely.�

“But I thought——â€�

“My dear Nora, he has never abandoned his ideas for a moment. He, or somebody working in his employ, has been on my trail and yours, too, ever since my acquittal.�

“And on Car—Carleton’s, too, I suppose.â€�

“Surest thing you know, Nora. I wish I could shoot a drop of prussic acid upon his tongue. That would keep him still for a while.�

“But you cannot, my dear.�