ng his keys from his
office, and, waiting thus, Betty turned her eyes beseechingly on her
father, and for the first time since her talk with her mother in the
studio, opened her lips to speak to him. She was very pale, but she
did not tremble, and her voice had the quality of determination.
Bertrand had yielded the point and had taken her to the jail against
his own judgment, taking Mary with him to forestall the chance of
Betty's seeing the young man alone. "Surely," he thought, "she will
not ask to have her mother excluded from the interview."

"I don't want any one--not even you--or--or--mother, to go in with
me."

"My child, be wise--and be guided."

"Yes, father,--but I want to go in alone." She slipped her hand in her
mother's, but still looked in her father's eyes. "I must go in alone,
father. You don't understand--but mother does."

"This young man may be an impostor. It is almost unmaidenly for you to
wish to go in there alone. Mary--"

But Mary hesitated and trusted to her daughter's intuition. "Betty,
explain yourself," was all she said.

"Suppose it was father--or you thought it might be father--and a
terrible thing were hanging over him and you had not seen him for all
this time--and he were in there, and I were you--wouldn't you ask to
see him first alone? Would you stop for one moment to think about
being proper? What do I care! If he is an impostor, I shall know it.
In one moment I shall know it. I--I--just want to see him alone. It
is because he has suffered so long--that is why he has come like
this--if--they aren't accusing him wrongfully, and I--he will tell me
the truth. If he is Richard, I would know it if I came in and stood
beside him blindfolded. I will call you in a moment. Stand by the
door, and let me see him alone."

The jailer returned, alert and important, shaking the keys in his
hand. "This way, please."

In the moment's pause of unlocking, Betty again turned upon her
father, her eyes glowing in the dim light of the corridor with wide,
sorrowful gaze, large and irresistibly earnest. Bertrand glanced from
her to his wife, who slightly nodded her head. Then he said to the
surprised jailer: "We will wait here. My daughter may be able to
recognize him. Call us quickly, dear, if you have reason to change
your mind." The heavy door was closed behind her, and the key turned
in the lock.

Harry King loomed large and tall in the small room, standing with his
back to the door and his f