Unblushingly, and with a glance at him for instant approval, she stepped forward and pronounced jubilantly the alias agreed upon: 

“Ridge—­Miss Ridge is my name.”

A smothered exclamation of dismay burst from Hugh’s lips.

“Eh, what?  Miss Ridge, and your brother’s name—­Smith?” ejaculated the man of authority.

For a brief moment there was a pause of embarrassment; and then with a dazzling, bewitching smile directed at her questioner, she electrified them both: 

“Most assuredly.  Mr. Smith is my half-brother.”

Hugh could have shouted for joy, as he watched the somewhat amused discomfiture of the officer.

“Where do you live?”

“St. Louis,” gasped she, with blind confidence in luck.

“Oh, humph!  Well, wait a minute,” he said, and both were gratified to see a good-natured grin on his face.  “Buckley, see if there is a family named Smith in Brooklyn with connection in St. Louis.  Sit down, Miss Ridge, please, and don’t be worried.  This is what we have to do.  Your driver slugged another of his kind and he’s likely to die of the fall he got.  We’ll have to use you as witnesses, that’s all, an’ we must have you where we can put our hands on you in the mornin’.  The captain will be here in an hour or two and you can probably manage to give some kind of bond for your appearance.  People like you don’t like to appear in court, you see, so we’ve got to make sure of you.”

“But we must go to our—­our dinner,” she wailed so prettily that he coughed to cover his official severity.

“Can’t be helped, ma’am.  Duty, you know.  The captain will soon be here.  Would you like to telephone, sir?”

Hugh stared and looked embarrassed.  Who was there for him to talk to over the ’phone?  And that brought another ghastly thought to mind.  Who could he ask to give security for his or her appearance in the morning?  He found words to say he would telephone to his friends, a bright idea suddenly coming to the rescue.  Grace looked her amazement and alarm as he marched into the telephone booth.  Bravely he called up Sherry’s and, with the sergeant listening, he sent word to the head waiter to inform Mr. ——­ (mentioning the name of a very prominent society leader) that Mr. Smith and Miss Ridge were unavoidably detained and could not join the party until quite late, if at all.  He came from the booth very much pleased with himself, and sat down beside Grace to await developments.

“What are we to do?” she whispered.

“Give me time to think, dear.  I fooled him that time.  Perhaps I can do it again.  Great bluff, wasn’t it?  What do you suppose Mr. ——­ will think?”

“But if they should insist upon holding us till morning,” she cried, on the verge of tears, trouble looming up like a mountain.

“They won’t dare do that.  They’ll probably send us to a hotel with a plain-clothes man unless we give bond, but that’s all.  I’ll try another bluff and see how it works.  There’s no use kicking about it.  We’re not in a position to stir up much of a row, you see, dear.”