The preliminary questions over, while Hardin's eyes rove wildly over the face of the woman he has cast off, the direct interrogatory is asked:
"Do you know who this young lady is?" says the attorney, with a furtive prompting from Hardin. "I do!" answers the lady, with broken voice.
Before another question can be asked, the colleagues of Hardin's leading lawyer hold a whispered colloquy with their chief.
There is a breathless silence in the court. The principal attorney for the guardian asks the Court for a postponement of two weeks.
"We were prepared to meet an inquiry into the legitimacy of the ward of our client. This production of another claimant to the same name, is a surprise to us. On account of the gravity of this matter, we ask for a stay."
No objection is heard. His Honor, anxious himself to have time to confer with the would-be senator, adjourns the hearing for two weeks.
Before Hardin could extricate himself from the circle of his advisers, the long-expected girl he has seen for the first time has disappeared with Madame de Santos. He has no control over her now. Too late!
His blood is bounding through his veins. He has been juggled with. By whom? Natalie, that handsome fiend. And yet, she was paralyzed at the apparition of the second beauty, who has also vanished.
He must see Natalie at once before she can frame a new set of lies. After all, the MINE is safe.
As he strides swiftly across the plaza, the thought of the senatorial election, and the lady whom he has to placate, presses on his mind.