ot properly understand through the
medium of a letter.

"I've been reading that letter to-day," went on the judge, "and I do
not wonder at my being moved by it. It was written in the most solemn
fashion, and hinted at a great deal more than it said. It urged me in
the most impressive way to return to Cornwall immediately, and told me
that I must allow nothing to stand in the way of my coming.

"Well, Jean, you know what happened. I left you on the morning
following, telling you to return to your father, to inform him of our
marriage, assuring you that I should return very shortly."

Again the judge was silent for some time. He seemed to be fighting
with himself, seemed to be unable to express the thoughts which filled
his mind.

"My guardian's name," he went on, "was Bolitho. As I told you, he had
always been fond of me from a boy, and he was more to me than most
fathers are to their sons. When I returned to him late that night,
for, as you know, I caught an express train from Carlisle early in the
morning and travelled continuously for fourteen hours, I found him
eagerly awaiting me, and I thought he looked pale and ill. In spite of
my protests, he would not wait until the morning before telling me what
he had in his mind. Ever since he had discovered the truth about my
affairs, it seemed that he had been making plans about me, and it was
not long before I discovered them. As I told you, he hated the name of
Graham, because my father had robbed him of the woman he loved, and he
told me that he wanted me to take his name and become his son. On
condition that I would do this, he would make my future secure and
leave me what fortune he possessed. But there was something more than
this, and here comes the story of my fall."

Paul's mother moved slightly in her chair, and then, if possible, her
form became more rigid than before, but she did not speak.

"Are you sure you can bear this?" asked the judge. "Are you strong
enough?"

"I'm not strong enough to leave this room until I know," replied the
woman, and each of them realised that every nerve in her body was in
tension, and that her suffering, although not physical, defied all
description.

"He told me something else," went on the judge. "He told me that he
had lately visited his doctor, who had informed him that it was
essential to his life for him to go to some Southern land, and
suggested New Zealand or Australia, for at least two years. He sai