They were to take
the first steamer. They were to come home with all speed. Surely there
was no mistaking the fierce intent of the message.
Popova suffered a moral collapse and Kalora went into a fit of weeping.
Both of them feared to return and yet, at such a crisis, they knew that
they dared not disobey.
The whole morning was given over to hurried packing-up. An afternoon
train carried them to New York. A steamer was to sail early next day,
and they went aboard that very night.
[Illustration: They were to come home with all speed.]
Kalora had left a brief message at her hotel in Washington. It was
addressed to Mr. Alexander H. Pike, and simply said that something
dreadful had happened, that she had been called home, that she was
going back to a prison the doors of which would never swing open for
her, and she must say good-by to him for ever.
She tried to communicate with him before sailing away from New York.
Messenger boys, bribed with generous cab-fares, were sent to all the
large hotels, but they could not find the right Mr. Pike. The real Mr.
Pike was living at a club.
She leaned over the railing and watched the gang-plank until the very
moment of sailing, hoping that he might appear.
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