he cost.

"John--" she said, laying her hand on his shoulder.

He looked up wearily. "You had better go to bed," he interjected.

"Don't look at me in that way. I am prepared for your being angry with
me--I made a dreadful mistake and must bear my punishment: any
punishment you choose to inflict. But you must think of yourself
first--you must spare yourself. Why should you be so horribly unhappy?
Don't you see that since Mr. Fleetwood has behaved so well we are quite
safe? And I swear to you I have paid back every penny of the money."

VI

THREE days later Shackwell was summoned by telephone to the Governor's
office in the Capitol. There had been, in the interval, no
communication between the two men, and the papers had been silent or
non-committal.

In the lobby Shackwell met Fleetwood leaving the building. For a moment
the Attorney-General seemed about to speak; then he nodded and passed
on, leaving to Shackwell the impression of a face more than ever thrust
forward like a weapon.

The Governor sat behind his desk in the clear autumn sunlight. In
contrast to Fleetwood he seemed relaxed and unwieldy, and the face he
turned to his friend had a gray look of convalescence. Shackwell
wondered, with a start of apprehension, if he and Fleetwood had been
together.

He relieved himself of his overcoat without speaking, and when he
turned again toward Mornway he was surprised to find the latter
watching him with a smile.

"It's good to see you, Hadley," the Governor said.

"I waited to be sent for; I knew you'd let me know when you wanted me,"
Shackwell replied.

"I didn't send for you on purpose. If I had, I might have asked your
advice, and I didn't want to ask anybody's advice but my own." The
Governor spoke steadily, but in a voice a trifle too well disciplined
to be natural. "I've had a three days' conference with myself," he
continued, "and now that everything is settled I want you to do me a
favor."

"Yes?" Shackwell assented. The private issues of the affair were still
wrapped in mystery to him, but he had never had a moment's doubt as to
its public solution, and he had no difficulty in conjecturing the
nature of the service he was to render. His heart ached for Mornway,
but he was glad the inevitable step was to be taken without further
delay.

"Everything is settled," the Governor repeated, "and I want you to
notify the press that I have decided to reappoint Fleetwood."

Shackwell bounded from hi