king her? Was this latest revelation true, and had
he actually stumbled upon authentic records, or manufactured them to
avenge himself upon her and eliminate her from his path? Willa's mind
still groped in a quandary, but every instinct within her arose to
combat.

"Why would Dad have mentioned Hillery at all, if he did not intend that
I should ever learn the truth?" she asked quietly. "Indeed, why did he
adopt the trapper's little daughter and call her by the other's name?"

"Well," Ripley Halstead replied after a swift glance at the attorney as
if for help, "probably he had grown fond of the dead child and wanted
another to take her place."

"He undoubtedly did!" It was the first time Starr Wiley spoke in the
girl's presence and a short ugly laugh accompanied the remark. "Not
wholly because he had taken a liking to Willa Murdaugh, however. Why
blink the facts, Mr. Halstead? It is plain on the face of it that he
must have looked up the real Willa's parentage and connections, and
realized that the storm had robbed him of a potential heiress in whose
probable inheritance he would sometime have shared----"

"That is a lie." Willa's tones rang out without passion but clarion
clear in her absolute certitude. "Anyone who knew Dad ever so slightly
would testify to its falseness. Why did he not keep himself informed
of my grandfather's changing attitude and come forward and claim the
inheritance when the search for me began? Whether I am Willa Murdaugh
or not, there can be at least no reason why I should remain to hear the
memory of the finest man who ever lived defiled by such a base
imputation. If you will excuse me now----"

She half rose from her chair, but Starr Wiley forestalled her.

"Your pardon--I will go." He bowed with an undercurrent of mockery in
his suave manner. "Naturally, Miss Billie, you resent my interference
in your career and I deplore the fact that the onerous duty should have
fallen upon my shoulders. However, it was a duty, no matter how
repugnant, and I could do no less than place the facts before Mr. North
and Mr. Halstead. I am sure my attitude requires no defense and I
trust, when you will have had time to think matters over calmly, you
will not blame me too bitterly. Believe me, I would have spared you,
gladly, had it been compatible with my sense of the right. It is long
past midnight, and I will leave you, if you will permit me, Mr. North."

He turned deferentially to the