talk of the great
resources of the firm and of its stability. That this firm was now in
the direst straits, and that her money was absolutely essential to its
existence, were things which never for one instant entered her thoughts.

Yet that necessity was becoming more pressing every day. Ezra, in
London, was doing all that indomitable energy and extraordinary business
capacity could do to prolong the struggle. As debts became due, he
would still stave off each creditor with such skill and plausibility as
allayed every suspicion. Day by day, however, the work became more
severe, and he felt that he was propping up an edifice which was so
rotten that it must, sooner or later, come crumbling about his ears.
When he came down to the Priory upon the Saturday, the young man's
haggard and anxious face showed the severe ordeal which he had
undergone.

Kate had already retired to her room when he arrived. She heard the
sound of the trap, however, and guessed who it was, even before his deep
bass voice sounded in the room beneath. Looking out of her window a
little later she saw him walking to and fro in the moonlight, talking
earnestly to his father. It was a bitter night, and she wondered what
they could have to talk about which might not be said beside the warm
fire in the dining-room. They flickered up and down among the shadows
for more than an hour, and then the girl heard the door slam, and
shortly afterwards the heavy tread of the two men passed her chamber,
and ascended to the rooms above.

It was a momentous conversation which she had witnessed. In it Ezra had
shown his father how impossible it was to keep up appearances, and how
infallible was their ruin unless help came speedily.

"I don't think any of them smell a rat," he said. "Mortimer and Johnson
pressed for their bill in rather an ugly manner, but I talked them over
completely. I took out my cheque-book. 'Look here, gentlemen,' said I,
'if you wish I shall write a cheque for the amount. If I do, it will be
the last piece of business which we shall do together. A great house
like ours can't afford to be disturbed in the routine of their
business.' They curled up at once, and said no more about it. It was
an anxious moment though, for if they had taken my offer, the whole
murder would have been out."

The old man started at the word his son had used, and rubbed his hands
together as though a sudden chill had struck through him.

"Don't you