ocked up for attempted suicide. You know, it's a
crime here."

The word they had both avoided was out at last. Although he had spoken
it very softly, its echoes seemed to fill the big room. She shrank back
and stared at him, her hands clutching the sides of her chair.

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Wouldn't I? I'll do it in exactly fifteen minutes, unless you give me
your word that you will never make another attempt of the kind." He took
his watch out of his pocket and laid it on the table between them.
"It's exactly quarter-past twelve," he said. "At half-past--"

"Oh!--and I thought you were kind!"

There was horror in the brown eyes now and an antagonism that hurt him.

"Would it be kinder to let you go back to that studio and--"

She interrupted.

"How dare you interfere in my affairs! Who gave you the right?"

"Fate gave me the right. I'm its chosen specialist on the job, and you
may take my word for it, my dear girl, the job's going to be done, and
done up brown."

He lit a fresh cigarette.

"It will be mighty unpleasant for you," he went on, thoughtfully.
"There's the publicity, you know. Of course, all the newspapers will
have your pictures--"

"Oh!"

"And a lot of romantic stories--"

"Oh--you--you--"

"But of course you can avoid all that," he reminded her, "by giving me
your promise."

She choked back her rising fury, and made an obvious effort at
self-control.

"If I agree to these terms of yours," she asked, between her teeth, "may
I be sure that you will leave me in peace and that I shall not see you
again?"

He looked at her reproachfully.

"Dear me, no! Why, you'll have to see me every day. I've got to look
after you for a while." At her expression his tone changed. "You see,"
he said, with smiling seriousness, "you have shown that just for the
present you can't be trusted to guide your own actions. So I'm going to
'stick around,' and guide them for a few days, until I am sure you are
yourself again!"

"This--" again she choked on the words--"this is intolerable!"

"Oh, I don't think so. You can see for yourself that I mean well, and
that I'm going to be a harmless sort of watch-dog. Also, you can depend
on me to go off duty as soon as it's safe. But for the present you're
going to have a guardian; and it's up to you to decide whether that
guardian shall be Laurence Devon, very much at your service, or the
police force of the city of New York."

She had her chin in her hands now,