Page:The traitor; a story of the fall of the invisible empire (IA traitorstoryoffa00dixo).pdf/347

 bundle, hurried home and burned it. On the way she stopped at a hardware store and made a mysterious purchase which she carefully concealed, and there was a dangerous light in her eyes as she placed this package beside the travelling dress which she had laid out to wear on the train with John.

The jailor passed Stella in the hall but looked the other way as he hurried forward with two soldiers who had called to see John Graham. They were dressed in the regulation blue suits of the army. The jailor, trusting implicitly their uniforms, allowed them to go up unaccompanied to John's door.

So complete was the disguise that at first the condemned man gazed through the bars with indifference at his callers.

The taller of the two suddenly thrust his face close and whispered:

"God, man, don't ye know me?"

John started.

"Dan—Billy—what does this mean!"

Dan put his finger on his lips.

"Everything's all right. Billy's been up in the mountains with me at my summer resort."

"I wrote you, Billy, not to come!" John scowled.

"I'm not going to see this infamy put on you"

"It's all fixed, Chief," Dan broke in, drawing a