"And listen! I declare to you that if all is as you say--and
I do not doubt it--you have never ceased to be virtuous in
the sight of God!"--Victor Hugo.

THE REBEL PROVES THAT HE IS LOST TO GOOD FORM AND RESPECTABILITY BY
STEPPING BETWEEN A SINNER AND THE WAGES OF SIN, THUS EVIDENCING TO THE
PILLARS OF SOCIETY HIS COMPLETE DEGENERATION

Part 1

Sam Miller came into Jeff's office one night as he was looking over the
editorials. Farnum nodded abstractedly to him.

"Take a chair, Sam. Be through in a minute."

Presently Jeff pushed the galley proof to one side and looked at his
friend. "Well, Sam?" Almost at once he added: "What's the matter?"

There were queer white patches on Miller's fat face. He looked like a
man in hell. A lump rose in his throat. Two or three times he swallowed
hard.

"It's--it's Nellie."

"Nellie Anderson?"

He nodded.

Jeff felt as if his heart had been drenched in icy water. "What about
her?"

"She's--gone."

"Gone where?"

"We don't know. She left Friday. There was a note for her mother. It
said to forget her, because she was a disgrace to her name."

"You mean--" Jeff did not finish his question. He knew what the answer
was, and in his soul lay a reflection of the mortal sickness he saw in
his friend's face.

Miller nodded, unable to speak. Presently his words came brokenly.
"She's been acting strangely for a long time. Her mother noticed it....
So did I. Like as if she wasn't happy. We've been worried. I...I..." He
buried his face in his arm on the table. "My God, I love her, Jeff. I
have for years. If I'd only known... if she'd only told me."

Jeff was white as the galley proof that lay before him with the
unprinted side up. "Tell me all about it, Sam."

Miller looked up. "That's all. We don't know where she's gone. She had
no money to speak of."

"And the man?" Jeff almost whispered.

"We don't know who he is. Might be any one of the clerks at the Verden
Dry Goods Company. Maybe it's none of them. If I knew I'd cut his heart
out."

The clock on the wall ticked ten times before Jeff spoke. "Did she go
alone?"

"We don't know. None of the clerks are missing from the store where she
worked. I checked up with the manager yesterday."

Another long silence. "They may have rooms in town here."

"Not likely." Presently Miller added miserably: "She's--going to be a
mother soon. We found the doctor she went to see."

"You're sure she hasn't been married?