ke a horrible dream."

"You have no idea what agony it has cost me. Do you think you can go
through it with me?"

"I'll try, Harold. But, oh, it's hard!"

"Yes."

"Don't you think that Father might clear the whole matter up if we
should tell him all we know? Maybe he could explain things----"

"That was the first thought that occurred to me. But the longer I worked
on the case, and the more I discovered of the truth, the more impossible
I saw that to be. I'm not so sure that we'd want him to save his skin,
anyway. He ought to face the music for his wrong just the same as any
other man."

Elizabeth did not once take her gaze from her brother's face, while she
spoke slowly and distinctly: "Father will not be afraid to face the
truth, even though it may mean financial ruin. He is brave, and he is
honest now. I shall tell him all."

"Don't be too hasty, Bets. I admire your spunk. But answer me this: did
it strike you as strange the way Father acted that night when I
announced my contemplated trip to Australia to look up Phillips?"

She nodded ever so slightly.

"And did it strike you as strange the way he treated Mr. McGowan when he
offered to help him to his room?"

"But why do you bring Mr. McGowan into this?"

"Bets, if I had known one grain of the truth that night I'd have flatly
refused the appointment to this case at the risk of losing my position
in the firm. Father was afraid that night. Here is one more paper I
wish you to read. I had it copied in Washington last week."

Elizabeth unfolded the paper, and read: "Be it known that one Adoniah
Phillips, after due application, and upon his own request, for reasons
herein stated, is authorized to change his name to----"

The paper fell to the floor. The room began to swim. The furniture
violently rocked. Elizabeth reached out and clutched her brother's arm.

"Mack McGowan!" she whispered faintly. "Oh, what am I saying? Why am I
saying that name? What has happened to me?"

"Poor little girl! I thought my little sister was stronger than that.
I've been a fool for letting you read all those papers after the strain
you've been through."

"Mack McGowan!" she repeated. She seized the paper which her brother had
lifted from the floor. "Oh, it's in that paper, and it's _his_ name!
Harold, what does it mean?"

"You must brace up, Beth. The man you are in love with is the son of
Adoniah Phillips. He bears his father's new name."

She was suddenly weary. She