ke it, you know what
the result will be. We may make our get-away to the East, or we _may_
stop here for good--under ground. You have little choice either way. If
you get out of this country, you'll be down and out. Your name'll be a
byword and you'll be flat broke, a joke and an object of contempt the
nation over. And it's not only yourself you've got to think of; you've
got to consider your wife and daughter, and how they'll stand poverty
and disgrace. Against all that you've got a chance, a fighting chance.
Are you game enough to take it?"

All that Moran said was true enough, for Rexhill knew that if he failed
to secure control of Crawling Water Valley, his back would be broken,
both politically and financially. He would not only be stripped of his
wealth, but of his credit and the power which stood him in lieu of
private honor. He would be disgraced beyond redemption in the eyes of
his associates, and in the bosom of his family he would find no solace
for public sneers. Failure meant the loss forever of his daughter's
respect, which might yet be saved to him through the glamour of success
and the reflection of that tolerance which the world is always ready to
extend toward the successful.

"You are right," he admitted, "in saying that I have my wife and
daughter to consider, and that reminds me. I haven't told you that Helen
overheard our conversation about Wade, in my room, the other day." He
rapidly explained her indignation and threat of exposure. "I don't mean
to say that your suggestion hasn't something to recommend it," he summed
up, "but if Wade were to disappear, and she felt that he had been
injured, I probably could not restrain her."

The agent leaned across the desk, leeringly.

"Tell her the truth, that I found Wade here in this room with Dorothy
Purnell, at night; that they came here for an assignation, because it
was the one place in Crawling Water...."

Rexhill got to his feet with an exclamation of disgust.

"Well, say, then, that they came here to rifle the place, but that when
I caught them they were spooning. Say anything you like, but make her
believe that it was a lovers' meeting. See if she'll care then to save
him."

The Senator dropped heavily back into his chair without voicing the
protest that had been upon his tongue's end. He was quick to see that,
contemptible though the suggestion was, it yet offered him a means
whereby to save himself his daughter's respect and affection. The