"I will telegraph him myself," I said. 

 "Supposing he won't come?" 

 "Blakely will come if I ask him to." 

 "And you will do this for me?" 

 "No; I am not doing it for you." 

 "Then why—" 

 "Because I cannot bear to have Blakely act so ungenerously toward his mother." 

 "He has but used my own weapons against me," she remarked thoughtfully. 

 "Your weapons are quite unworthy of him, Mrs. Porter." "The telegram must be dispatched at once," she announced, glancing impatiently at her watch. 

 "If you will call the office and ask them to send up a boy with some forms, I will think over what I wish to say," I said. 

 When the boy arrived I had decided upon my message. It was: 

 

 "BLAKELY PORTER, Ventura." 

 "If you do not return at once with your captive I shall consider that we have never met." 

 "ELIZABETH." 

 

 I wrote it out on a form and handed it to Mrs. Porter. "Will that do?" I asked. 

 She read it at a glance. "Yes," she said, "it will do. Here, boy, see that this is rushed." 

 "I'm glad it was satisfactory," I said. "Good afternoon, Mrs. Porter." 

 "My dear girl....." 

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