nd, I am
afraid--terribly afraid!"

"You mean that they will hang him?"

Mary was silent. She felt she could not utter the words that hung upon
her lips.

"That's why I've come to you," said Mary. For the moment she felt like
uttering the thoughts which had been haunting her throughout the night,
but it seemed as though something sealed her lips.

"Will you not help me?" she said. "We must work together."

For a moment Mary had made the other feel what she felt herself--that
Paul's life was really in danger--but only for a moment.

"No, no," she cried. "They'll never hang him when they know what I
know!"

"What do you know? Tell me," cried Mary, feeling that she was nearing
the object after which she strove.

"Yes, you must know. The truth must come out. After last night it
cannot be hidden long."

"My father, as you know, is the judge," said Mary. "And he must do his
duty. It's not he who's responsible; it is the jury, you know."

There was something unreal in her words, and they seemed to pass her
lips without any effort on her own part. Paul's mother almost laughed.

"Why is it I feel so tender towards you?" she said, "when you are his
child? I expect it is because I know that Paul loves you and that you
love him. I ought to hate you. I can't understand why I don't. And
then everything is so tangled too."

Mary was sure now that she was talking to a mad woman. Her words were
meaningless. They were simply the ravings of a disordered mind.

"Can a man condemn his own son to death?" continued the older woman.
"Now that he knows the truth, can he send him to be hanged?"

Mary began to be afraid. The woman's wild, unreasoning words and the
strange look in her eyes almost frightened her.

"I do not think you realise what you are saying."

"Not realise?" was the reply. "Oh, my lass, my lass! Yes, I see you
think I'm mad. It would be no wonder if I were. I've gone through
enough to unhinge any woman's mind; but, no, I am not mad. Yes, I may
as well tell you, for you must know sooner or later, that judge--Judge
Bolitho as you call him--your father, is Paul's father too, and my
husband. Paul has told you about it, hasn't he? He married me when I
was a girl up among the Scotch hills, and he's Paul's father, and he's
your father too. Don't you see?"

For a moment Mary was almost stunned. In spite of the wild words which
she heard, she could not help being convinced of their truth.