d then he replied:

"No, I do not--no--"

Thinking that she had touched his sympathies, Shirley followed up
her advantage:

"Oh, then, why not come to his rescue--you, who are so rich, so
powerful; you, who can move the scales of justice at your
will--save this man from humiliation and disgrace!"

Ryder shrugged his shoulders, and his face expressed weariness, as
if the subject had begun to bore him.

"My dear girl, you don't understand. His removal is necessary."

Shirley's face became set and hard. There was a contemptuous ring
to her words as she retorted:

"Yet you admit that he may be innocent!"

"Even if I knew it as a fact, I couldn't move."

"Do you mean to say that if you had positive proof?" She pointed
to the drawer in the desk where he had placed the letters. "If you
had absolute proof in that drawer, for instance? Wouldn't you help
him then?"

Ryder's face grew cold and inscrutable; he now wore his fighting
mask.

"Not even if I had the absolute proof in that drawer?" he snapped
viciously.

"Have you absolute proof in that drawer?" she demanded.

"I repeat that even if I had, I could not expose the men who have
been my friends. Its _noblesse oblige_ in politics as well as in
society, you know."

He smiled again at her, as if he had recovered his good humour
after their sharp passage at arms.

"Oh, it's politics--that's what the papers said. And you believe
him innocent. Well, you must have some grounds for your belief."

"Not necessarily--"

"You said that even if you had the proofs, you could not produce
them without sacrificing your friends, showing that your friends
are interested in having this man put off the bench--" She stopped
and burst into hysterical laughter. "Oh, I think you're having a
joke at my expense," she went on, "just to see how far you can
lead me. I daresay Judge Rossmore deserves all he gets. Oh,
yes--I'm sure he deserves it." She rose and walked to the other
side of the room to conceal her emotion.

Ryder watched her curiously.

"My dear young lady, how you take this matter to heart!"

"Please forgive me," laughed Shirley, and averting her face to
conceal the fact that her eyes were filled with tears. "It's my
artistic temperament, I suppose. It's always getting me into
trouble. It appealed so strongly to my sympathies--this story of
hopeless love between two young people--with the father of the
girl hounded by corrupt politicians and unscrupulous financi