s. "Scoundrel," he muttered, "scoundrel. And I
have been tied to him. I have let him blind me; I have let him set the
standards; I have let him _weigh the coal_. Well, now I know him."
There was a menace in his last words that frightened even Gladys
Wardin, well though she knew the menace was not to her, but ranged in
her defence.

"Here," he said, taking some bills from his pocket. "You must tell him
you can't go--tell him you _won't_ go; you must return his money; I
will lend you what you need. Don't be afraid; I will go with you----"

"But I can't take _your_ money, either, Mr. Elden," she protested. "I
can't stay here any longer; I will have no job, and I can't pay you
back. You see I can't take it even from you. What a fool I was! For
a few clothes----"

"You will continue to work--for me," he said.

She shook her head. "No. I can't. I can't work anywhere near him."

"You won't need to. The firm of Conward & Elden will be dissolved at
once. I have always felt that there was something false in
Conward--something that wouldn't stand test. I thought it was in his
business life; and yet that didn't quite seem to give the answer. Now
I know."

There was the sound of a key in the street door, and Conward entered.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Conward paused as he entered the room. He had evidently not expected
to find Elden there, but after a moment of hesitation he nodded
cordially to his partner.

"Almost ready, Miss Wardin?" he asked, cheerily. "Our train goes
in----" He took his watch from his pocket and consulted it.

Dave's eyes were fixed on the girl. He wondered whether, in this
testing moment, she would fight for herself or lean weakly on him as
her protector. Her answer reassured him.

"It makes no difference when it goes, Mr. Conward. I'm not going on
it." Her voice trembled nervously, but there was no weakness in it.

The money which Dave had given her was still crumpled in her hand. She
advanced to where Conward stood vaguely trying to sense the situation,
and held the bills before him. "Here is your money, Mr. Conward," she
said.

"Why, what does this mean?"

"Here is your money. Will you take it please?"

"No, I won't take it, until you explain----"

She opened her fingers, and the bills fell to the floor. "All right,"
she said.

Conward's eyes had shifted to Dave. "You are at the bottom of this,
Elden," he said. "What does it mean?"

"It means, Conward," D