lence. She had fainted at that
barbed attack. But there was one there who dared to answer for her and
he spoke relentlessly. It was the man who loved her.

"No, madam. We are carrying her to safety. You must know what I mean by
that. Let her go quietly and you may die in peace. Otherwise--"

She interrupted him with a loud call, startling into life the echoes of
that haunted hall:

"Humphrey! Come to me, Humphrey!"

But no Humphrey appeared.

Another call, louder and more peremptory than before:

"Humphrey! I say, Humphrey!"

But the answer was the same--silence, and only silence. As the horror of
this grew, the doctor spoke:

"Mr. Humphrey Dunbar's ears are closed to all earthly summons. He died
last night at the very hour he said he would--four minutes after two."

"Four minutes after two!" It came from her lips in a whisper, but with
a revelation of her broken heart and life. "Four minutes after two!"
And defiant to the last, her head rose, and for an instant, for a mere
breath of time, they saw her as she had looked in her prime, regal in
form, attitude, and expression; then the will which had sustained her
through so much, faltered and succumbed, and with a final reiteration of
the words "Four minutes after two!" she broke into a rattling laugh, and
fell back into the arms of her old nurse.

And below, one clock struck the hour and then another. But not the big
one at the foot of the stairs. That still stood silent, with its hands
pointing to the hour and minute of Frank Postlethwaite's hastened death.

END OF PROBLEM VI

PROBLEM VII. THE DOCTOR, HIS WIFE, AND THE CLOCK

Violet had gone to her room. She had a task before her. That afternoon,
a packet had been left at the door, which, from a certain letter
scribbled in one corner, she knew to be from her employer. The contents
of that packet must be read, and she had made herself comfortable with
the intention of setting to work at once. But ten o'clock struck and
then eleven before she could bring herself to give any attention to the
manuscript awaiting her perusal. In her present mood, a quiet sitting by
the fire, with her eyes upon the changeful flame, was preferable to the
study of any affair her employer might send her. Yet, because she was
conscious of the duty she thus openly neglected, she sat crouched over
her desk with her hand on the mysterious packet, the string of which,
however, she made no effort to loosen.

What was she thinkin