night-light I saw that the
hands of the little clock on my dresser pointed to nearly three
o'clock. I could not imagine who would call on father so very late at
night, and I feared at first it might be a burglar, but my common
sense assured me that father would not stop to parley with a burglar.
While I stood wondering, father raised his voice slightly, and I
caught one word which he uttered. Ramon, that word sounded to me like
'blackmail!' Why, what is it? Why do you look at me so strangely?" she
added hastily, at his uncontrollable start.

"I? I am not looking at you strangely, dear; it is not possible that
you could have heard aright. It must have been simply a fancy of
yours, born of the state of your nerves. You could not really have
understood." But Ramon Hamilton looked away from her as he spoke, with
a peculiarly significant gleam in his candid eyes. After a slight
pause he went on: "No one in the world could have attempted to
blackmail your father. He was the soul of honor and integrity, as no
one knows better than you. Why, his opinion was sought on every public
question. You remember hearing of some of the political honors which
he repeatedly refused, but he could, had he wished, have held the
highest office at the disposal of the people. You must have been
mistaken, Anita. There has never been a reason for the word
'blackmail' to cross your father's lips."

"I know that I was not mistaken, for I heard more--enough to convince
me that I had been right in my surmise! Father was keeping something
from me!"

"Dear little girl, suppose he had been? Nothing, of course, that could
possibly reflect upon his integrity,--don't misunderstand me--but you
are only twenty, you know. It is not to be expected that you could
quite comprehend the details of all the varied business interests of a
man who had virtually led the finances of his country for more than
twenty years. Perhaps it was a purely business matter."

"I tell you, Ramon, that that man, whoever he was, actually dared to
threaten father. When I heard that word 'blackmail' in the angriest
tones which I had ever heard my father use, I did something mean,
despicable, which only my culminating anxiety could have induced me to
do. I slipped on my robe and slippers, stole half-way downstairs and
listened deliberately."

"Anita, you should not have done that! It was not like you to do so.
If your father had wished you to know of this interview, don't you
think