sely. It was because I
thought I recognized a bit of jewelry--a tiny gold locket she wore. It
contained the picture of her mother, who died soon after her birth. When I
heard her name was Regina, and on the top of that heard you mention the
name of Mortlake, I knew that fate, in its strange whirligig, had brought
my daughter back to me."

"To-night, with Mr. Bell, I sought her, and she has consented to forgive
me for my years of neglect. The rest of my life will be spent in atoning
for the past. That is all."

His voice broke, and Regina--a different Regina from the old defiant one,
gazed up at him tenderly.

"So," said Mortlake, "I'm left alone at last, eh? Regina, haven't you a
word for me? Won't you forgive me for deceiving you about your father all
these years?"

"Of course I forgive, freely and wholly," said the girl, stepping toward
him, "but it is hard to forget."

Very tenderly, Mortlake raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. Then he
drew himself erect.

"What do you want to do with me?" he said defiantly. "I've confessed
everything. Why don't you call the police?"

"Because we want you to have a chance to be a better man," said Mr. Bell.
"The past is over and done with. The future lies before you. You can make
it what you will--bad or good, we shall not interfere with you."

Mortlake looked at them unsteadily. Then his voice broke and he stepped
quickly toward Budd. The recluse of Lost Brig Island extended his lean
palm and met the other's outstretched hand half way.

"I bear no grudge, Mortlake," he said. "You will always be welcome at our
home--Regina's and mine."

"Oh, yes--always," cried the girl, with a catch in her voice.

"Thank you," said Mortlake simply. "I don't--I don't dare trust myself to,
speak now; to-morrow, perhaps----"

He strode abruptly through the door and was gone.

Old Mr. Harding arose to his feet.

"After this affecting tableau, is there anything you wish to say to me,
hey?" he grated out.

"Nothing, sir," said Mr. Bell, turning his back upon the wizened old
financier. "I have seen to it that the money taken from them has been
returned to the Galloways."

"Then, I'll bid you good-night, too, since you seem to have taken
possession of these rooms. Come, Fanning."

Without a word, Fanning shuffled across the room and reached his parent's
side. Not till they were both at the door did he speak. Then, with a
malevolent look backward, he paused.

"Roy Prescott," he