CHAPTER 16Marion’s cry had come from the hillside beyond the house. Stephen caught the glimpse of a white figure running toward him in the bright moonlight.
He raced to meet the girl. She collapsed in his arms, panting and disheveled. Her hair was a tumbled mass of brown ringlets. For several minutes she could only gasp inarticulately.
“Steve, thank God you’re safe! I saw the headlights of a car—I didn’t know it was you, but I thought if you were alive you’d come back to the lab!”
Looking down into her eyes, Court felt a queer tightness in his throat. He interrupted in a voice that was scarcely audible.
“Marion, I—I love you.”
The girl caught her breath as she stared. Then suddenly she smiled with dazzling brilliance.
“I’m glad,” she whispered, and pressed her head against Court’s ch
