Miss Donovan did not go down to supper. Beaton waited some time in the
office, his eyes on the stairs, but she failed to appear, and he lacked
the necessary courage to seek her in her own room. Then Enright called
him and compelled his attendance. The absence of the girl was not
caused from any lack of appetite as she subsidised the Chinaman to
smuggle her a supply of food by way of the back stairs, which she ate
with decided relish, but she had no desire to show any anxiety
regarding a meeting with the newcomers.
Her newspaper experience had given her some knowledge of human nature
and she felt convinced that her task of extracting information would be
greatly simplified if these people sought her company first. To hold
aloof would have a tendency to increase their interest, for Beaton
would certainly tell of her presence in the hotel, and, if their
purpose there had any criminal intent, suspicion would be aroused.
This theory, however, became somewhat strained as the time passed
quietly, and seemed to break entirely when from her window she saw
Beaton and the heavy-set man ride out of town on a pair of livery
horses.
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