n the presence of Mrs. Collins and her husband, Ward had
maintained an unruffled demeanor; now that he was alone his face assumed
a tense, rigid look, as though he were staring at an apparition.
Something weighed heavily on his mind and it was plain that he was beset
by uncertainty. He continued to walk up and down the room with short,
nervous strides, until the swish of skirts at the head of the stairs
brought him to an abrupt halt at the doorway. The arm which he extended
to his sister, as he escorted her to the waiting automobile trembled
violently. A cold sweat moistened his face.

"Sis," he said, when the machine had started, "I'm going to tell you
something. Things are headed for a great crisis and it is necessary that
you should know. It's going to shock you--"

He paused, eyeing her quizzically. But her mind, occupied with the
safety of the man she loved, understood but vaguely what he was saying.

The brother took advantage of her preoccupation to gather additional
courage for the communication which he had to impart. He saw clearly
that she was resolved to discard her husband, that it would be futile to
combat her determination. Other occasions there had been, many of them,
when he had averted a final parting between them. But there had never
been another man involved.

"Grace, listen to me!" He placed one hand on her wrist. "We are both in
a terrible predicament, out of which my marriage may lift us. If you do
anything that endangers the marriage, if my engagement should be
broken,--we are both ruined."

"What do you mean?" A puzzled look appeared in her face.

"I didn't tell you before, because I thought it would never be necessary
to do so," he went on, growing more nervous and uneasy. "But little by
little I put all our money into the South American Developing Company
which I promoted, and the enterprise is a failure. Moreover, I induced
most of the clients of the bank to invest--I grow sick every time I
contemplate what's going to happen when they learn that their money is
lost. But there was nothing dishonest, sis--nothing dishonest!"

The news appeared to have no visible effect upon her. Something more
important than money, more alarming than the ruin which his words
implied, distracted her with a vague foreboding of impending evil. She
made no reply to her brother, but sat rigid, eyes staring vacantly
ahead, her hands tightly clasped beneath the heavy fur rug that
protected the lower part of her