ear. The Unknown cannot really harm you.
All you have to do is to turn religious. Anyhow you must risk it--that
is to say, if you want me."

"It will lead to a quarrel with Hamar," Kelson said desperately. "The
Firm will dissolve--and I shan't get a cent more money."

"I'll be content with what you have in the bank now. We can live on
the interest of fifty thousand. The hundred thousand you will, of
course, settle on me at once."

He was silent. She taunted him, she ridiculed him; she at last lost
her temper with him--whereupon he succumbed. The marriage should take
place at a registry office within the week.

"There'll be no time for a trousseau!" he said.

"Oh, hang the trousseau!" she said. "I shall have the hundred thousand
pounds. And now for a word of advice. Be sure that you do not let
Hamar get any inkling of our approaching marriage, and be most careful
to avoid doing anything that might arouse his suspicions. It isn't
that I'm afraid of him--but I don't want rows--I'm sick to death of
them!"

"You can rely on me to be careful, darling!" Kelson said, kissing her
on the lips. "I'll be discretion itself," and so he meant to be. All
the same--as is the case with every lover--every lover worthy of the
name of lover--who loves with all the full, ripe vigour of genuine
passion, his heart played havoc with his head; and he was blind to
everything save visions of his beloved. In other circumstances this
would not have mattered very much, but with Hamar's lynx eyes
continually watching him, it was certain to lead to disaster.

"Ed!" Hamar said to Curtis one day. "Matt's been getting into
mischief. I know the symptoms well. He can't look me in the face, and
every now and then, when he fancies my attention is attracted
elsewhere, I catch him peeping furtively at me as if he were
frightened out of his life I should ferret out some secret. It would
be deplorable if now that we have got so near the end of the Compact,
we should be held up by some idiotic blunder--some nonsensical love
affair of his. I wonder whether it's Rosenberg or some other girl.
Will you find out?"

"How can I?" Curtis growled. "I'm not his keeper."

"I know that!" Hamar said. "Come be reasonable. You want to be a
Croesus--so that you can eat and drink your head off--don't you!
Well! You will! You will be one of the three wealthiest men in the
world--you will have the world at your feet, if only you stick to me
for the next seven months: til