l, and could distinguish in a moment from that of any other woman
about the house, and her rich, penetrating voice, that never faltered,
and carried even in a whisper, no matter how far away from his bedside.
She laughed sometimes in talking to the nurses, finding it hard to
restrain the natural vivacity of her temperament, and it hurt him when
they hushed her down, and playfully ordered her from the room.

He loved to lie and watch her, and his great dark eyes at times exerted a
kind of fascination. She avoided them, but could feel his gaze when she
turned away, and was glad to escape. He loved her--there was no hiding
the fact; and, when he was convalescent, and the time came for him to go
away, he would declare it--if not before. The nurses discussed it between
themselves, and speculated upon the chances. They knew that there was a
rival, but he was far away, at the war--and he might never come back. The
man on the spot had all the advantages on his side, the other all the
love; it was interesting to the feminine mind to watch developments.

When there was talk of the patient getting up, he was increasingly
irritable if Dora were away. One day, he seized her hand, and carried it
to his lips--dry, fevered lips that scorched her.

"You have been very good to me," he murmured, in excuse for his
presumption. And what could she say in rebuke that would not be churlish
and ungracious?

At last, he was allowed to see Mr. Barnby, the manager at the bank, who
came with a sheaf of letters and arrears of documents needing signature.
The patient declared that he was not yet capable of attending to details,
but he wanted to see the check signed by Herresford and presented by Dick
Swinton.

"Which check?" asked Mr. Barnby; "the one for two thousand or the one for
five thousand? I have them both."

"There are two, then?"

Ormsby's eyes glistened.

"Yes, with the same strange discoloration of the ink. This is the one;
and I have brought the glass with me."

Ormsby examined Mrs. Swinton's second forgery under the magnifier, and
was puzzled.

"The addition has been cleverly made. The writing seems to be the same.
Whose handwriting is it--not Herresford's?"

"It seems to be Mrs. Swinton's. Compare it with these old checks in his
pass-book, and you will see if I am not right. She has drawn many checks
for him and frequently altered them, but always with an initial."

"Yes, the check was drawn by Mrs. Swinton in her father'