to the lawyer. In a
whisper he said:

"There is terrible news! I don't know how to break it to the poor
woman----"

Steell sprang forward. Anxiously he exclaimed:

"Terrible news? Surely not----"

The president nodded.

"Yes--all lost, and the diamonds, too. A dispatch just received in
London says that, according to a wireless relayed from Cape Town, the
_Abyssinia_ caught fire twelve hours after sailing from that port and
all on board perished. It is shocking, and the pecuniary loss to us
disastrous. The stones were not insured. Hush! Here they come. Not
a word!"

"My God!" muttered the lawyer, as he fell back and turned away, so they
might not see the effect which the shocking news had made on him. With
an effort he managed to control himself.

The two women entered the room joyfully.

"Here it is!" cried Helen exultantly, as she brandished the missing
telegram. "You see, he's just sailed, and all's well."

The president said nothing, but, taking the dispatch from her hands,
slowly read it. Nodding his head, he said slowly:

"Yes--he's just sailed, and--all's well."

"When do you think he'll be here?" questioned the young hostess,
looking anxiously up into his face.

The president shook his head.

"That is hard to tell," he answered evasively.

Mr. Steell had gone to the window, where he stood looking out, idly
drumming his fingers on the pane. How was it possible to break such
fearful tidings as that? What a horrible calamity! He wished himself
a hundred miles away, yet some one must tell her. At that moment
shrill cries arose in the street outside--the familiar, distressing,
almost exultant cries of news-venders, glad of any calamity that puts a
few nickels into their pockets.

"_Ex-tra! Ex-tra! Special ex-tra!_"

"What's that?" exclaimed Helen apprehensively. The sound of special
editions always filled her with anxiety, especially since Kenneth's
departure.

"_Ex-tra! Ex-tra! Special edition! Ex-tra! Big steamer gone down.
Great loss of life. Extra!_"

Her face was pale, as she turned and looked at the others, who also
stood in silence, listening to the hoarse accents of distress.

"A steamer gone down!" she faltered. "Isn't that terrible? I wonder
what steamer it was."

Ray ran to the door.

"I'll get a paper," she said.

Before Mr. Parker or Mr. Steell could prevent her the young girl had
opened the front door. Now there was no way of preventing Helen
k