d, a forger, a man who
couldn't play the straight game?"

"Did you play the straight game, father, when you concealed the fact that
Dick lived? You meant to trick me into a speedy marriage with your
friend."

"I--I won't be talked to like this. There comes a time when a father must
assert his authority, and I say--"

"Father, you'll be ill, if you excite yourself like this."

"Don't talk about playing the straight game to me. I suppose you've been
to Asherton Hall to see the rascal. He's hiding there, no doubt."

"No, he's not. It is you who know where he is. You've seen him, and you
must tell me where to find him. I won't rest till I've heard the true
story of the forgery from his own lips."

"If I knew where he was at the present moment," exclaimed the colonel,
thumping the table again, "I'd give information to the police. As for
Ormsby, when he gets your letter--if you've written it--he'll search the
wide world for him. He will be saving me the trouble. Swinton must pay
the penalty--and the sooner the better."

"I've seen Mr. Herresford, who said it was only a question of money."

"Aha, that's where you're wrong. If Ormsby chooses to prosecute, no man
can help the young fool. He's branded forever as a criminal and a felon.
Why, if he could inherit his grandfather's millions, decent people would
shut their doors in his face, now."

"Then, his service to his country counts for nothing," faltered Dora.

"No; many a man has distinguished himself in the field, but that hasn't
saved him from prison. Dick Swinton is done for. Ormsby will see to
that."

"Vivian is a coward, then, and his action will only show how wise I was
to abandon all thought of marrying him."

"You haven't abandoned all thought of it. You're just a silly fool of a
girl who won't take her father's advice. It is an insult to Ormsby to
throw him over for a thieving rascal--"

"Father, you have always prided yourself on being a just man. Yet, you
condemn Dick without a hearing."

"Without a hearing! Haven't I given him a hearing? I saw him. He had the
chance then to deny the charge. His crime is set out in black and white,
and he can't get away from it. No doubt, he thinks he can talk over a
silly woman, and scrape his way back to respectable society by marrying
my daughter; but no--not if I know it! Marry Dick Swinton, and you go out
of my house, never to return. I'll not be laughed at by my friends and
pointed at as a man of loose princip