You wouldn't do that even if you weren't
Donaldson's wife. Being his wife, you could not."

"My husband has told me no secret about you, none at all," the girl
protested, defending Knight involuntarily. "I beg you to believe that,
Mr. Van Vreck."

"I do believe it. If there's one thing I pride myself on, it's being a
judge of character. That's why I've made a success of life. You wouldn't
lie, perhaps not even to save the one you love best. I believe that he
did not tell you the secret. Yet I'm certain you know it. I suppose other
discoveries you must have made gave you supernatural intuition. You
guessed."

Annesley did not answer. Yet she could not take her eyes from his.

"You needn't mind confessing. But I won't catechize you. I'll take it
for granted that what Donaldson knows you know--not in detail, in the
rough.... In this bag are six gold images set with precious stones. They
are of the time of the Incas, and they've been up till now the most
precious things in Mexico. From now on they will be among the most
precious things in Paul Van Vreck's secret collection.

"Some weeks ago I hoped that Donaldson would get them for me. He refused,
so I had to go myself. I couldn't trust any one else, though the only
difficulty was getting to Central Mexico with Constitutionals raging on
one side and Federals on the other. A man promised to deliver the goods
to my messenger. I've been bargaining over these things for years. But,
as I said, Don wouldn't go, so I had to do the job myself. You see, Mrs.
Donaldson, your husband is the only honest man I ever came across."

"Honest!" The exclamation burst from Annesley's lips.

"Yes. Honest is the word. I might add two others: 'true' and 'loyal.'"
Paul Van Vreck held her with his strange, straight look, commanding, yet
amused. "That is the opinion," he added after a pause, "of a very old
friend. It's worth its weight in--gold images."

The girl gave him no answer. But the effort of keeping her face under
control made lips and eyelids quiver.

"May I sit down, Mrs. Donaldson?" Van Vreck asked in a tone which changed
to commonplaceness--if his voice could ever be commonplace. "I'm a
fugitive, and have had a run for my money, so to speak. I'm seeking
sanctuary. Also I came in the hope of trying my eloquence on Donaldson.
But now I've seen you, I will not do that. In future he's safe from me,
I promise you."

"Oh!" Annesley faltered. And then: "Thank you!" came out, grudgin