The Adventures of Kathlyn

Quietly the watcher entered through the window, alert and tense. He

flew to the desk, found the envelope, steamed it open at the kettle,

extracted the sealed envelope and Colonel Hare's note. He smiled as he

read the letter and changed his plans completely. He would not play

messenger; he would use a lure instead. With his ear strained for

sounds, he wrote and substituted a note. This houri of Sa'adi would

not pause to note the difference in writing; the vitalness of the

subject would enchain her thoughts. It was all accomplished in the

space of a few minutes. Smiling, he passed out into the fast settling

twilight.

They were shipping a lion to San Francisco, and the roaring and

confusion were all very satisfactory to the trespasser.

Midnight. From afar came the mellow notes of the bells in the ancient

Spanish mission. The old year was dead, the new year was born,

carrying with it the unchanging sound of happiness and misery, of

promises made and promises broken, of good and evil.

"The packet!" cried Winnie.

Kathlyn recognized in that call that Winnie was only a child. All the

responsibility lay upon her shoulders. She ripped the cover from the

packet and read the note.

"Father."

"Oh, Kit, Kit!"

"Hush, Winnie! I must go, and go alone. Where's the evening paper?

Ah, there it is. Let me see what boat leaves San Francisco to-morrow.

The _Empress of India_, six a. m. I must make that. Now, you're your

father's daughter, too, Winnie. You must stay behind and be brave and

wait. I shall come back. I shall find father, if I have to rouse all

India. Now, to pack."

When they arrived at the station the passenger train had just drawn

out. For a while Kathlyn felt beaten. She would be compelled to wait

another week. It was disheartening.

"Why not try the freight, then?" cried Winnie.

"You little angel! I never thought of that!"

But the crew would not hear of it. It was absolutely against the

company's rules. Kathlyn could have cried.

"It isn't money, miss, it's the rules," said the conductor kindly. "I

can't do it."

Kathlyn turned in despair toward the station. It was then she saw the

boxed lion on the platform. She returned to the conductor of the

freight.

"Why isn't that lion shipped?"

"We can't carry a lion without an attendant, miss. You ought to know

that."

"Very well," replied Kathlyn. She smiled at the conductor confidently.

"I'll travel as the lion's attendant. You certainly can not object to

that."