direction of the High Street, and some five minutes later I passed
a constable accompanied by a man wearing a light Burberry and a
soft hat, whom I knew later (although I failed to recognize him at
the time) to have been Mr. Jack Addison.

"I stood at the corner by the High Street until long after
midnight. Twice I returned to the Red House and once even
penetrated as far as the porch; but although I thought I could
detect a light shining out through the shutters of the room on the
right of the door, I could not be sure of it and there was no sound
of movement within.

"These were my only discoveries, and very wretched and dissatisfied
I tramped back to my chambers wondering what the visit of Marcus
Coverly to this apparently empty house could mean and why he had
remained there, but particularly wondering why the voice had told
me this part-truth which had turned me into a spy unavailingly.

"The discovery made at the docks on the following day placed a new
and dreadful construction upon the motives of the speaker, and I
awakened to the fact that although entirely innocent of any
complicity I had laid myself open to a charge of having been
concerned in the murder of my cousin.

"My ill-advised attempt to conceal the garments which I had used as
a disguise, and of which I had not known how to dispose, was
dictated by panic. I knew the police were watching me and I was
fool enough to think that I could escape their vigilance.

"This is all I have to say. It explains nothing and it does not
exonerate me, I am aware, but I swear that it is the truth,"

"(Signed) ERIC COVERLY, Bart."

Although she retained so brave a composure I recognized the strain
which this new and cruel ordeal had imposed upon Isobel; and Gatton
incurred a further debt of gratitude by his tactful behavior, for:

"Miss Merlin," he said earnestly--"you are a very brave woman. Thank
you. I only wish I could have spared you this."

Shaking me warmly by the hand, he bowed and departed, leaving me alone
with Isobel.

As the sound of his footsteps died away Isobel returned again to the
seat from which she had risen; and a silence fell between us. My own
feelings I cannot attempt to depict, but I will confess that I was
afraid of my humanity at that moment. Never had Isobel seemed more
desirable; never had I longed as