at it did not diminish her
appetite for the coffee and the scrambled eggs, nor prevent her from
chatting a good deal about her approaching wedding.

But it was very different with Raffles Haw. The incident had shocked
him to his inmost soul. He had often feared lest his money should do
indirect evil, but here were crime and madness arising before his very
eyes from its influence. In vain he tried to choke down his feelings,
and to persuade himself that this attack of old McIntyre's was something
which came of itself--something which had no connection with himself or
his wealth. He remembered the man as he had first met him, garrulous,
foolish, but with no obvious vices. He recalled the change which, week
by week, had come over him--his greedy eye, his furtive manner, his
hints and innuendoes, ending only the day before in a positive demand
for money. It was too certain that there was a chain of events there
leading direct to the horrible encounter in the laboratory. His money
had cast a blight where he had hoped to shed a blessing.

Mr. Spurling, the vicar, was up shortly after breakfast, some rumour of
evil having come to his ears. It was good for Haw to talk with him, for
the fresh breezy manner of the old clergyman was a corrective to his own
sombre and introspective mood.

"Prut, tut!" said he. "This is very bad--very bad indeed! Mind unhinged,
you say, and not likely to get over it! Dear, dear! I have noticed
a change in him these last few weeks. He looked like a man who had
something upon his mind. And how is Mr. Robert McIntyre?"

"He is very well. He was with me this morning when his father had this
attack."

"Ha! There is a change in that young man. I observe an alteration in
him. You will forgive me, Mr. Raffles Haw, if I say a few serious words
of advice to you. Apart from my spiritual functions I am old enough
to be your father. You are a very wealthy man, and you have used your
wealth nobly--yes, sir, nobly. I do not think that there is a man in a
thousand who would have done as well. But don't you think sometimes that
it has a dangerous influence upon those who are around you?"

"I have sometimes feared so." "We may pass over old Mr. McIntyre. It
would hardly be just, perhaps, to mention him in this connection. But
there is Robert. He used to take such an interest in his profession.
He was so keen about art. If you met him, the first words he said were
usually some reference to his plans, or the prog