part in this contest; my position is
necessarily neutral; but if you want my opinion of the whole matter,
I will tell you frankly that I think, for once in your life, you
have bitten off more than you can swallow, and you will find it so
before long."

"Perhaps it might be just as well to reserve your opinion till it
is called for," the other answered, shortly.

"All right," returned Mr. Thornton, with imperturbable good humor;
"but any time that you want to wager a thousand or so on the outcome
of this affair, remember the money is ready for you!"

The conversation changed, but Ralph Mainwaring was far more
chagrined and annoyed than he would have acknowledged. Mr.
Thornton's words rang in his ears till they seemed an augury of
defeat, and, though outwardly as dogged and defiant as ever, he was
unable to banish them, or to throw off the strange sense of
depression which followed.

Meanwhile, amid the discordant elements surrounding them, Harold
Mainwaring and Winifred Carleton found little opportunity for any
but the most desultory conversation, but happily there was little
need for words between them. Heart can speak to heart through the
subtle magnetism of a hand-clasp, or the swift flash from eye to
eye, conveying meanings for which words often prove inadequate.

"You wrote that you were confident of victory, and your looks bear
it out," she said, 'with a radiant smile; "but I would have come
just the same, even had there been no hope of success for you."

"I need no assurance of your faith and loyalty," he replied, gazing
tenderly into her luminous eyes, "but your coming will make my
triumph ten times sweeter."

"Of course you will spend the evening with, us at our hotel,--uncle
cabled for apartments at the Savoy,--and I am all impatience to
learn whatever you are at liberty to tell me concerning your case,
for there must have been some wonderful developments in your favor
soon after your arrival in this country, you have seemed so much more
hopeful; and do not let me forget, I have something to show you which
will interest you. It is a written statement by Hugh Mainwaring
himself regarding this identical will that is causing all this
controversy."

"A statement of Hugh Mainwaring's!" Harold repeated in astonishment;
"how did it come into your possession?"

"That is the strangest part of it," she replied, hurriedly, for
they had now reached the carriages in waiting for them. "I received
it through