nce had been enough; she knew the man; then it was her
insane shriek rang through the house.

Mellen forced Ford into the room, flung him against the wall, locked the
door, and exclaimed in a terrible voice:

"At last! at last!"

A bell rang at the front entrance, but no one in that room heeded it.

Mellen sprang towards the man again, but he cried out savagely:

"Keep off, if you value your life, keep off."

"One of us dies here!" cried Mellen. "William Ford, one of us dies
here!"

After that long shriek Elsie had fallen back helpless; she had not
fainted, but a sort of cateleptic rigor locked her limbs; there she lay
without voice or power of motion, listening to their words, which seemed
to come through blocks of ice.

"I did not expect to meet you here," said Ford, calling up a sudden
audacity. "It's an honor I did not wish."

"I know who you expected to see; but the woman is gone; you must seek
her elsewhere!"

"Then you have driven her to destruction at last. I tell you, sir, we
are a pack of cowards hunting down an angel. You and I and that pretty
imp of satan. I came to tell you this: bad as I am, her goodness has
touched me with human feelings. If she is here and alive, justice shall
be done her, and for once the truth shall be spoken under this roof.
That woman has bribed me to shield another through her. Soul and body
she has been made a sacrifice. There is danger to me here. This bit of
goodness may bring ruin upon me, but I cannot leave the country forever,
and know that she is being ground to dust under your heel; while that
other flimsy coward crowds her from hearth and home. For once, Grantley
Mellen, you shall be forced to hear the truth and believe it."

"The truth from you!" exclaimed Mellen, with unutterable scorn, "that or
anything else from so vile a source I reject--go, sir, we are not
alone!"

Ford, or North, glanced towards the sofa; recognised Elsie lying there,
and turned again towards Mellen.

"Twice you have broken up my life," cried Mellen, "but this time you
shall not escape! Here, in the home you have dishonored, you shall meet
your fate. Burglar, villain, how did you get here?"

"By the way I have been in the habit of reaching these rooms. I hoped to
see your wife here, and tell her that at last I was resolved to knock my
chains from her soul. She never would have spoken; but nothing, even
though she had gone on her knees again, should have silenced me! If she
is not al