the other, with reluctance.

"If Miss Dare is attached to Mr. Mansell, she must feel certain of his
guilt to _offer_ testimony against him. Her belief should go for
something, sir; for much, it strikes me, when you consider what a woman
she is."

This conversation increased Mr. Ferris' uneasiness. Much as he wished to
spare the feelings of Miss Dare, and, through her, those of his friend,
Mr. Orcutt, the conviction of Mansell's criminality was slowly gaining
ground in his mind. He remembered the peculiar manner of the latter
during the interview they had held together; his quiet acceptance of the
position of a suspected man, and his marked reticence in regard to the
ring. Though the delicate nature of the interests involved might be
sufficient to explain his behavior in the latter regard, his whole
conduct could not be said to be that of a disinterested man, even if it
were not necessarily that of a guilty one. In whatever way Mr. Ferris
looked at it, he could come to but one conclusion, and that was, that
justice to Hildreth called for such official attention to the evidence
which had been collected against Mansell as should secure the indictment
of that man against whom could be brought the more convincing proof of
guilt.

Not that Mr. Ferris meant, or in anywise considered it good policy, to
have Mansell arrested at this time. As the friend of Mr. Orcutt, it was
manifestly advisable for him to present whatever evidence he possessed
against Mansell directly to the Grand Jury. For in this way he would not
only save the lawyer from the pain and humiliation of seeing the woman
he so much loved called up as a witness against the man who had
successfully rivalled him in her affections, but would run the chance,
at least, of eventually preserving from open knowledge, the various
details, if not the actual facts, which had led to this person being
suspected of crime. For the Grand Jury is a body whose business it is to
make secret inquisition into criminal offences. Its members are bound by
oath to the privacy of their deliberations. If, therefore, they should
find the proofs presented to them by the District Attorney insufficient
to authorize an indictment against Mansell, nothing of their proceedings
would transpire. While, on the contrary, if they decided that the
evidence was such as to oblige them to indict Mansell instead of
Hildreth, neither Mr. Orcutt nor Miss Dare could hold the District
Attorney accountable for