ught those tell-tale marks
out upon that livid skin. I should have suffered less. I should only have
had to pay the penalty of my crime and not be forced to think of Carmel
with terrible revulsion, as I was now thinking, minute by minute, fight
with it as I would.

"You had better sit down," Hexford suddenly suggested, pushing a chair my
way. "Clarke, look up the telephone and ask for three more men. I am
going into this matter thoroughly. Perhaps you will tell us where the
telephone is," he asked, turning my way.

It was some little time before I took in these words. When I did, I
became conscious of his keen look, also of a change in my own expression.
I had forgotten the telephone. It had not yet been taken out. If only I
had remembered this before these men came--I might have saved--No,
nothing could have saved her or me, except the snow, except the snow.
That may already have saved her. All this time I was trying to tell where
the telephone was.

That I succeeded at last I judged from the fact that the second man left
the room. As he did so, Hexford lit the candle. Idly watching, for
nothing now could make me look at the lounge again, I noticed the
candlestick. It was of brass and rare in style and workmanship--a
candlestick to be remembered; one of a pair perhaps. I felt my hair stir
as I took in the details of its shape and ornamentation. If its mate
were in her house--No, no, no! I would not have it so. I could not
control my emotion if I let my imagination stray too far. The
candlestick must be the property of the club. I had only forgotten. It
was bought when? While thinking, planning, I was conscious of Hexford's
eyes fixed steadily upon me.

"Did you go into the kitchen in your wanderings below?" he asked.

"No," I began, but seeing that I had made a mistake, I bungled and added
weakly: "Yes; after matches."

"Only matches?"

"That's all."

"And did you get them?"

"Yes."

"In the dark? You must have had trouble in finding them?"

"Not at all. Only safety matches are allowed here, and they are put in a
receptacle at the side of each door. I had but to open the kitchen door,
feel along the jamb, find this receptacle, and pull the box out. I'm well
used to all parts of the house."

"And you did this?"

"I have said so."

"May I ask which door you allude to?"

"The one communicating with the front hall."

"Where did you light your first match?"

"Upstairs."

"Not in the kitchen?"

"N