ation in their own appearance seemed to have spread
itself to their surroundings. The table was ill-laid, there were no
flowers, an empty bottle of wine and several decanters remained where
they had been set. There was every indication that however little the
two might have eaten, they had been drinking heavily. Yet they were
both pale. Cecil's face even was ghastly, and the hand which played
nervously with the tablecloth shook all the time.

"Forrest," he said abruptly, "it is a mistake to clear out all the
servants like this. Not only have we had to eat a filthy dinner, but
it's enough to make people suspicious, eh? Don't you think so? Don't
you think afterwards that they may wonder why we did it?"

"No!" Forrest answered, with something that was almost like a snarl.
"No, I don't! Shut up, and don't be such an infernal young fool! We
couldn't have town servants spying and whispering about the place. I
caught that London butler of yours hanging around the library this
afternoon as though he were looking for something. They were a d--d
careless lot, anyhow, with no mistress or housekeeper to look after
them, and they're better gone. Who is there left exactly now?"

"There's a kitchen-maid, who cooked this wretched mess," Cecil
answered, "and another under her from the village, who seems half an
idiot. There is no one else except Pawles, a man who comes in from the
stables to do the rough work and pump the water up for the bath. We are
practically alone in the house."

"Thank Heaven it's our last night," Forrest answered.

"You really mean, then," Cecil asked, in a hoarse whisper, "to finish
this now?"

"I mean that we are going to," Forrest answered. "You know I'm half
afraid of you. Sometimes you're such a rotten coward. If ever I thought
you looked as though you were going back on me, I'd get even with you,
mind that."

"Don't talk like a fool!" Cecil answered. "What we do, we do together,
of course, only my nerves aren't strong, you know. I can't bear the
thought of the end of it."

"Whatever happens to him," Forrest said, "he's asking for it. He has an
easy chance to get back to his friends. It is brutal obstinacy if he
makes us end it differently. You're only a boy, but I've lived a good
many years, and I tell you that if you don't look out for yourself and
make yourself safe, there are always plenty of people, especially those
who call themselves your friends, who are ready and waiting to kick you
down i