with which this
request was charged.

"As his brother--his only remaining relative, I have that right. Do you
think that Dor--that Miss Scott, can be trusted not to forestall that
moment by any previous hint of what awaits him?"

"If she so promises. But will you exact this from her? It surely cannot
be necessary for me to say that your presence will add infinitely to the
difficulty of her task."

"Yet it is a duty I cannot shirk. I will consult the doctor about it. I
will make him see that I both understand and shall insist upon my rights
in this matter. But you may tell Miss Doris that I will sit out of
sight, and that I shall not obtrude myself unless my name is brought up
in an undesirable way."

The hand on the door-knob made a sudden movement.

"Mr. Brotherson, I can bear no more to-night. With your permission, I
will leave this question to be settled by others." And with a repetition
of his former bow, the bereaved father withdrew.

Orlando watched him till the door closed, then he too dropped his mask.

But it was on again, when in a little while he passed through the
sitting-room on his way upstairs.

No other day in his whole life had been like this to the hardy inventor;
for in it both his heart and his conscience had been awakened, and up to
this hour he had not really known that he possessed either.

XXXI. WHAT IS HE MAKING

Other boxes addressed to O. Brotherson had been received at the station,
and carried to the mysterious shed in the woods; and now, with locked
door and lifted top, the elder brother contemplated his stores and
prepared himself for work.

He had been allowed a short interview with Oswald, and he had indulged
himself in a few words with Doris. But he had left those memories behind
with other and more serious matters. Nothing that could unnerve his hand
or weaken his insight should enter this spot sacred to his great hope.
Here genius reigned. Here he was himself wholly and without flaw;--a
Titan with his grasp on a mechanical idea by means of which he would
soon rule the world.

Not so happy were the other characters in this drama. Oswald's thoughts,
disturbed for a short time by the somewhat constrained interview he
had held with his brother, had flown eastward again, in silent love and
longing; while Doris, with a double dread now in her heart, went about
her daily tasks, praying for strength to endure the horrors of this
week, without betraying the anxieties secr