Page:The achievements of Luther Trant - Balmer and MacHarg - 1910.djvu/340

308 be the worse for anyone who pushes himself in! I came here at once to take the case out of your hands, as soon as I found Miss Waldron had come here. This is strictly my affair—keep out of it!"

"You mean, Mr. Axton, that you prefer to investigate it personally?" the psychologist inquired.

"Exactly—investigate and punish!"

"But you cannot blame Miss Waldron for feeling great anxiety even on your account, as your personal risk in making such an investigation will be so immensely greater than anyone's else would be."

"My risk?"

"Certainly; you may be simply playing into the hand of your strange visitor, by pursuing him unaided. Any other's risk,—mine, for instance, if I were to take up the matter—would be comparatively slight, beginning perhaps by questioning the nightwatchmen and stableboys in the neighborhood with a view to learning what became of the man after he left the house; and besides, such risks are a part of my business."

Axton halted. "I had not thought of it in that light," he said reflectively.

"You are too courageous—foolishly courageous, Mr. Axton."

"Do you mind if I sit down? Thank you. You think, Mr. Trant, that an investigation such as you suggest, would satisfy Miss Waldron—make her easier in her mind, I mean?"

"I think so, certainly."

"And it would not necessarily entail calling in the police? You must appreciate how I shrink from