Completely dazed, quite ignorant as to where she was going, hardly knowing where she was, so quickly had events followed each other, Paula found herself on the upper deck of a ferryboat which was churning its way out of the New York slip, bound for City. At her side stood Tod, whose eyes, assisted by a powerful fieldglass, were on the now fast- ferryhouse, trying to distinguish among the belated arrivals who had rushed up at the last minute, only to miss the boat, the disappointed faces of Mr. Cooley and Jimmy .
The day was superb, and in the river, a glorious blue by the bright sunshine, flocks of white seagulls rode buoyantly on the dancing waves. A magnificent view was before them. Ahead lay New Jersey and the wide stretch of land-locked water which forms Manhattan's matchless harbor. Close by, on the left, Governor's Island appeared as a splotch of green in the blue expanse; farther South soared the noble figure of Liberty holding aloft the torch that enlightens the world. Away to the East smiled the green hills of Staten Island, and farther on were the Narrows and Sandy Hook, with the open sea beyond.
The ever-busy river was alive with craft of every kind. The swift ferryboats hurrying from shore to shore, the little , and whistling as they , mosquito-like, here and there, sailing staggering along under clouds of canvas, stately ocean liners passing out to sea—all this made up a spectacle of which the eye could never tire.
But both Paula and her escort were too much to pay proper attention to the beauty of their surroundings. The eyes of both were turned anxiously in the direction of the receding shore.
"It's all right!" said Tod , as he lowered the glass. "I don't see anything of them."
"Thank God for that!" exclaimed his companion, making a great effort to control her .
"But that Cooley's certainly a bird!" went on the young man. "He guessed that it was I who put up the job on him. He knew that he could find you quickest by keeping close at my heels, so he and Jimmy jumped into a red taxi and shadowed my machine. I threw on all the speed I could, trying to get away. I went like the very . I knocked over a fruit stand and nearly killed a policeman. But I couldn't shake them off. The red taxi was close behind me all the time. Just as I got near to the ferry the man was raising the draw. I yelled and shook a five-spot in his face. It worked like a charm. He lowered the drawbridge again, and I shot across."
His companion gave him a look in which and .
"How clever you are!" she smiled. "I should never have got away but for you. I was terribly frightened. When Mrs. Parkes came in and handed me your note I could have hugged her. I did not lose a minute, but put on my hat and ran downstairs. Parkes hailed a cab for me, and I reached the ferry a few minutes before you arrived. I can't tell you how glad I was to get away. What did those horrible men want with me?"
He made no answer, hardly knowing what answer to make. How could he tell this intelligent, high-spirited girl, whose mental were every bit as sound and keen as his own, that her uncle had sworn out an , committing her to the horrors of an insane ? The very idea of it was . Pretending that he had not heard the question, he directed Paula's attention to a heavily with which was coming down the river on the swift tide. It was a pretty sight to see how she cut through the water. Notwithstanding the fact that she had only sail for motor power, the craft was going very fast, and Tod began to speculate idly whether their ferryboat would cross the stranger's bow or slow down to pass under her stern. But his companion, preoccupied with more serious thoughts, was not to be put off.
"Tell me," she repeated anxiously, "what did those men want with me? What right had they to catechise me as they did?" He remained silent, and appealingly she went on: "Please don't hide anything from me. I want to know the truth."
He still hesitated. It was incredible of belief—too a . Yet Cooley and his stepfather were well within the law. It was plainly a to do this poor girl out of her rights, yet those scoundrels had the sanction of the Court for the action they were taking. After all, why should he hide anything from her? She would soon learn the terrible truth. It was his duty to let her know everything, so she might be forearmed.
His silence only alarmed her the more.
"It must be something serious," she exclaimed, "or you would tell me. What did those dreadful men want of me?" she said: "I wish you to tell me. I appeal to your honor as a man."
No longer able to restrain himself, Tod burst out:
"Pardon me if I express myself too emphatically, Miss Marsh, but I just can't keep it in any longer. You are the victim of as damnable a plot as was ever hatched outside of Hell! Your uncle, desperate at the nearness of your your majority, wants to put you in a place where you will be powerless to with his plans. that you are highly excitable and not responsible for your actions, they have secured from the Court an order committing you to the Tocquencke Asylum."
"Not that—my God! Not that!"
The young girl turned white as death, and with an of horror onto the seat. Her entire body trembled like a leaf.
"What have I done," she moaned, "that I should be in this way?" Looking up at her companion, her eyes filled with tears, she demanded: "Is it possible that they have the right—does the law give my uncle this power over me?"
He nodded affirmatively.
"Unfortunately it does," he replied. "The law is all wrong, but it's the law. All your uncle has to do is to secure the affidavit of two physicians that you are insane. You may be , but if it pleases these physicians to conclude otherwise you can be committed to an asylum."
"Then no one is safe!" cried the girl. "Any relative wishing, for reasons of his own, to get you out of the way could two unscrupulous physicians and deprive you of your liberty!"
"Certainly," rejoined the young man. "There have been many cases of the sort. The process is very simple. In case the person can be made out as violently insane so as liable to do injury to some one, two physicians are called upon to examine the person and to make the necessary affidavit. Then on the petition of anybody interested in the person—your uncle, for instance—a Court can at once, on the statement of the physicians, commit the person to an asylum."
"Horrible!" cried Paula. "And these things can happen in free America? Surely there is some remedy?"
"Yes," he replied. "Anybody interested in the person, like a father, brother, next friend, or anybody else, can apply at any time they see fit, to a Judge of the Court, on a habeas corpus, and have the question of the of the person tested. This may be done in open Court by a Judge, or he can send it to a , if he sees fit, where the are . This judge decides whether the person is sane or not. Of course if they had succeeded in putting you in the asylum Mr. Ricaby would have immediately for a habeas corpus."
Paula grew silent. How she wished herself back in Paris! It was all on account of that wretched inheritance! How she regretted having come to America to claim it! If she was nervous, who could wonder at it? The manœuvres of her Uncle James, Mr. Cooley, and Dr. Zacharie were enough to unnerve any one. If they put her in an asylum, she would go really mad. She had heard and read so much of the terrors of private insane . It was nothing but a living death. The horror of it seized upon her. Shaken by a sudden nervous trembling, she exclaimed fearfully:
"Don't let them take me, Mr. Chase! Please don't let them take me away!"
Tod put his arm around her sympathetically. He felt sorrier for her than he dare show. Never so much as now did he realize the place which this girl had taken in his life. Was it love? He did not know, but he certainly was more attracted to her than to any girl he had ever known.
"No—no," he said reassuringly. "You're safe from them now. The Court order which they have secured is only good in New York State. In a few more minutes we shall be in New Jersey. They can't touch you there."
"But ?" she asked. "What are we going to do when we get to Jersey."
Tod grinned.
"I haven't the remotest idea," he answered. "All I thought was getting away from those land sharks!"
"But I must go somewhere," insisted Paula, who was beginning to feel uneasy, now that the first excitement of the escape was o............