ttered by meeting Rex's mother, who figured in her mind as a
domineering, cruel, old lady, elegantly merciless, and gifted with a
certain skill in torture by words.

Mrs. Carshaw began to dispel that impression promptly.

"My poor child!" she cried, with a break in her voice, "what you have
undergone! Can you ever forgive me?"

Carshaw, ignoring Meiklejohn, whispered to his mother that Winifred
should be sent to bed. She was utterly worn out. One of the maids should
sleep in her room in case she awoke in fright during the night.

When left alone with Meiklejohn he intended to scarify the man's soul.
But he was disarmed at the outset. The Senator's spirit was broken. He
admitted everything; said nought in palliation. He could have taken no
better line. When Mrs. Carshaw hastened back, fearing lest her plans
might be upset, she found her son giving Winifred's chief persecutor a
stiff dose of brandy.

The tragedy of Smith's Pier was allowed to sink into the obscurity of an
ordinary occurrence. Fowle's unhappily-timed appearance was explained by
Rachel Craik when her frenzy at the news of Voles's death had subsided.

A chuckling remark by Mick the Wolf that "There'd been a darned sight
too much fuss about that slip of a girl, an' he had fixed it," alarmed
her.

She sent Fowle at top speed to Smith's Pier to warn Voles. He arrived in
time to be shot for his pains.

Carshaw and Winifred were married quietly. Their honeymoon consisted
of the trip to Massachusetts when he began work in the cotton mill.
Meiklejohn fulfilled his promise. When the Costa Rica cotton concession
reached its zenith he sold out, resigned his seat in the Senate and
transferred to Winifred railway cash and gilt-edged bonds to the total
value of a half a million dollars. So the young bride enriched her
husband, but Carshaw refused to desert his business. He will die a
millionaire, but he hopes to live like one for a long time.

Petch and Jim fought over Polly. There was talk about it in East Orange,
and Polly threw both over; the latest gossip is that she is going to
marry a police-inspector.

Mrs. Carshaw, Sr., still visits her "dear friend," Helen Tower. Both of
them speak highly of Meiklejohn, who lives in strict seclusion. He is
very wealthy; since he ceased to strive for gold it has poured in on
him.

Winifred secured an allowance for Rachel Craik sufficient to live on,
and Mick the Wolf, whose arm was never really sound again, was given