from an attack.

"You like him; you've known him for several years; you know him probably
better than you know any other man."

"I suppose I do, Mr. Bassett," said Sylvia; "we are good friends,
but--that's all."

He stopped short, and she felt his hand touch her arm for an instant
lightly--it was almost like a caress, there in the rain-swept street
with the maple boughs swishing overhead in the cold west wind.

He quickened his pace now, as though to mark a new current in his
thoughts.

"There's a favor I want to ask of you, Miss Garrison. Dan talked to me
once or twice about your grandfather's estate. He owned some shares in a
business I had helped to organize, the White River Canneries. The scheme
failed for many reasons; the shares are worthless. I want you to let me
pay you back the money Professor Kelton paid for them. I should have to
do it privately--it would have to be a matter between you and me."

[Illustration: A SUDDEN FIERCE ANGER BURNED IN HER HEART]

"Oh, no! Dan explained that to me; he didn't hold you responsible. He
said the company failed, that was all. You are kind to offer, but I
can't think of accepting it."

"Very well," he said quietly. And then added, as though to explain
himself more fully: "Your grandfather and Mrs. Owen were old friends. He
wasn't a business man. I promoted the canneries scheme and I was
responsible for it, no matter what Harwood says about it."

She had experienced sharp alternations of pity and apprehension in this
brief walk. He was a prominent man; almost, it might be said, a
notorious character. The instinct of self-protection was strong in her;
what might lie behind his confidences, his blunt confessions, and his
offer of help, she did not know. They had reached Elizabeth House, and
she paused on the broad steps under the shelter of the veranda. With her
back toward the door she looked down upon him as he stood on the
sidewalk, his umbrella deeply shadowing his head and shoulders. She
stood before him like a vestal guarding her temple from desecration. She
was conscious of a sharp revulsion of feeling, and a sudden fierce anger
burned in her heart. She spoke with a quick, passionate utterance.

"There is something you can do for me, Mr. Bassett. I'm going to bring
Rose Farrell back to this house. I want you to let her alone!"

He stood dumbly staring at the door as it closed upon her. He lingered a
moment, the rain beating down upon him, and then walked slow