Gordon swung round, and Mallinsbee turned his smiling, twinkling eyes upon his daughter, who had arrived all unnoticed.
"It's a scheme he's got to beat his father, gal," laughed Mallinsbee in a deep-throated chuckle.
"His father?" Hazel turned her smiling, inquiring eyes upon the man who had rescued her yesterday.
"Yes, James Carbhoy," said her father, "the President of this railroad."
Hazel's eyes widened, and their smile died out.
"Your father—the—millionaire—James Carbhoy?" she said. And her note of regret must have been plain to anybody less excited than Gordon.
But Gordon was beyond all observation of such subtle inflections. He was obsessed with his wild scheme. He started forward. Walking past Hazel, he closed and locked the door. Then with alert eyes he glanced at the window. It was open. He shut it and secured it. Then he set a chair for Hazel close beside her father, and finally brought his own chair round and sat himself down facing them.
"Listen to me, and I'll tell you," he grinned, his whole body throbbing with a joyous humor. "We're going to get the other feller where we need him, and that other feller is my—dear—old—Dad!"