woman, if you think that such
rumors will serve to impeach a man of my standing."

"There is a warrant out for Bailey," Dorothy went on quietly. "If he is
caught, and I choose to make public what I know and can guess, I am
sure that you will never reach a court. You underestimate the people
here. I would not have to prove what I have told you. I need only to
proclaim it, and--I don't know what they'd do to you. It makes me a bit
sick to think about it."

The thought made the Senator sick, too, for of late he had seen that
things were going very badly for him. He was prepared to temporize, but
there was no need for him to contemplate surrender, or flight, so long
as Bailey remained at large. If the man were captured, and there was
likelihood of a confession being wrung from him, then most decidedly
discretion would be the better part of valor.

"Oh, of course," he confessed, "I am willing to admit that in such a
community as this you might make trouble, unjustly, for me and my
daughter. I am anxious to avoid that, because my interests are valuable
here and I have my daughter's safety to consider."

"Don't think of me," Helen interposed quickly. Above all fear for
herself would be the shame of being beaten by Dorothy and of having her
triumph go to the making of Wade's happiness. The thought of that
appeared far worse to her mind than any physical suffering. "Do what you
think is right. We are not cowards."

"But I must think of you, my dear. I am responsible to your mother." He
turned to Dorothy again. "How much do you want?"

"How much? Oh!" She flushed hotly beneath the insult, but she chose to
ignore it. "There is only one price that will purchase my silence. Tell
me where Mr. Wade is?"

"Bless my soul, I don't know." The Senator affected a display of injured
innocence, which sat oddly upon his harried countenance. "I am willing
to do what I can to save trouble, but I can't do the impossible."

For a moment, in a wretched slough of helplessness, Dorothy found her
conviction wavering. Could it really be possible that he was speaking
the truth; that he did not know? But with the dreadful thought came also
the realization that she must not let him fathom her mind. She told
herself that she must keep her countenance, and she did so.

"There is not a man in Crawling Water who does not believe that Race
Moran is responsible for Mr. Wade's disappearance," she declared. "That
is another thing that you should conside