Fun? Grace turned away. And in turning she found herself presenting a tearful face to none other than Drew Lane her friend of the bus, who had entered unnoticed.
“Well,” he smiled, pretending not to see her tears. “How’s the big store in Chicago?”
“Great! Great!” She managed a smile.
“How—how are all the people you look af—after?” she asked a bit unsteadily.
“Oh, they’re all right.” He laughed a low laugh. “In fact—” His voice dropped to a hoarse whisper—“I’ve got some of them locked up. Quite a number. You see, I’m a city detective. This is part of my territory. I’ll be seeing you often, I hope.”
She started and stared. That whisper! When one spoke out loud his voice could be recognized. She knew this. But a whisper? Could one truly recognize a whisper when he heard it the second time? It seemed incredible. And yet, Drew Lane’s whisper was so like the one she had heard at dawn.
“Impossible! A mere fancy!” She tried to free herself from this apparently unreasonable suspicion.
“A penny for your thoughts,” Drew Lane bantered.
“No! No! Not for a dollar,” was her quick reply.
“All right,” he laughed. “Anyway, I’ll be seeing you. Got to hurry on down the street.” He was gone, leaving the girl’s head in a whirl.