doing," she protested. "You had
no idea there was any one present who was meditating crime."

"True; but a detective shouldn't be ignorant. He ought to know men; he
has opportunity enough to learn them. But I won't be caught again. Never
in any company, not if it is composed of the highest dignitaries in the
land, will I ever tell again how a crime of any kind can be perpetrated
without risk. One always runs the chance of encountering an Orcutt."

Imogene turned pale. "Do not speak of him," she cried. "I want to forget
that such a man ever lived."

Mr. Gryce smiled again.

"It is the best thing you can do," said he. "Begin a new life, my child;
begin a new life."

And with this fatherly advice, he said good-bye, and she saw his wise,
kind face no more.

The hour that followed was a dreary one for Imogene. Her joy at knowing
Craik Mansell was released could not blind her to the realization of her
own ruined life. Indeed she seemed to feel it now as never before; and
as the slow minutes passed, and she saw in fancy the strong figure of
Mansell surrounded by congratulating admirers and friends, the full
loneliness of her position swept over her, and she knew not whether to
be thankful or not to the fever for having spared her blighted and
dishonored life.

Mrs. Richmond, seeing her so absorbed, made no attempt at consolation.
She only listened, and when a step was heard, arose and went out,
leaving the door open behind her.

And Imogene mused on, sinking deeper and deeper into melancholy, till
the tears, which for so long a time had been dried at their source,
welled up to her eyes and fell slowly down her cheeks. Their touch
seemed to rouse her. Starting erect, she looked quickly around as if to
see if anybody was observing her. But the room seems quite empty, and
she is about to sink back again with a sigh when her eyes fall on the
door-way and she becomes transfixed. A sturdy form is standing there! A
manly, eager form in whose beaming eyes and tender smile shine a love
and a purpose which open out before her quite a different future from
that which her fancy had been so ruthlessly picturing.

THE END.

PUBLICATIONS OF G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS.

=THE LEAVENWORTH CASE.= A Lawyer's Story. By ANNA
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