That bit of news was significant. She had established her alibi; she had
reinstated herself and had turned a smooth front to the world.
Mayo was certain in his soul that he knew her kind. His illusions were
departing. Now that her tragic experience was behind her, now that she
was back among her own, now that the fervor of romance was cool, she was
thanking God, so he told himself, that she had not sacrificed herself
for anybody. He was honestly glad that she was at home, glad of the hint
which the paragraph gave--that her secret was still her own, so far as
family and the social world were concerned.
That night Mayo took further counsel with himself. In the morning his
final decision was made. He would endeavor once more to see Julius
Maxston. He determined that he would march into the outer office, boldly
announce his name, assert that he was there to expose a crime, and tell
them that if Mr. Marston refused to hear him he should tell what he knew
to the public through the newspapers; then he would ask them to send for
the police, if the door of Marston's office remained closed to him. He
would call attention to himself and to his case by all the uproar
he could make. When he went to jail he would go with plenty of folks
looking on. Let Marston and his fellow-financiers see how they liked
that!
It was a desperate and a crude plan, but Mayo was not a diplomat--he was
a sailor.
He marched forth on his errand with his chin up and resolve flaming
within him.
Other men, prosperous-looking and rotund men, rode up in the elevator
with him and went into Marston & Waller's office ahead of him, for he
had modestly stepped to one side to allow them to pass.
He heard some talk of a "board meeting." It was plain that Mr. Marston
was to be occupied for a time. This was not a favorable moment in which
to project himself upon the attention of the financier; he needed a
clear field. Therefore he tramped up and down the corridor of the
office building, watching the elevator door, waiting to see the rotund
gentlemen go on their way. And with attention thus focused he saw Miss
Alma Marston arrive.
She waited until the elevator had passed on, and then she came directly
to him. Her expression did not reveal her mood except to hint that she
was self-possessed.
"I am not especially surprised to find you here," she told him. "I
believe you said to Captain Downs--so he informed me--that you were
going to try to see my father. And men who try to see my father, without
proper introduction, usually kick their heels outside his office for
some days."