d, with a feeble
attempt at a smile:

"I infer from this ominous opening that you have received another lying
anonymous letter about me. If I am right, Mr. Minford, be good enough to
let me see it at once, according to your promise."

"You have guessed correctly, Mr. Wilkeson. I have received a second
anonymous letter, which I intended showing to you after a further brief
explanation. But I can readily appreciate your anxiety to read it
without delay. Here it is." He drew forth a letter, and handed it
to Marcus.

Marcus immediately recognized the envelope and the address as similar
to those of the first letter, which he still had in his possession.

He pulled the letter nervously from its yellow sheath, and read as
follows:

MR. MINFORD:

DEAR SIR,--Pardon me for intruding on you a second time. But,
as a friend of virtue, I must warn you of continued danger to
your daughter from the acquaintance of Mr. Wilkeson, your
pretended benefactor. If you are any longer in doubt as to
the vile intentions of this man, conceal yourself from
observation within sight of Miss Pillbody's school, any fair
afternoon, about half past two o'clock, and watch his
actions. If his suspicious conduct, at that time and place,
does not give a sufficient significance to my warnings, then
take the trouble to go to ----, Westchester Co., where he was
born, and search into his infamous history. Take heed--I warn
you again--lest, in your devotion to science, you forget that
you are a father.

ONE WHO WOULD SHIELD THE INNOCENT.

While reading this letter, Marcus was conscious that the eyes of the
inventor were fixed piercingly upon him. That consciousness caused his
head to bow, and his cheeks to crimson with shame. It is the curse of
this morbid sensibility, that righteous indignation at a foul slander
upon one's good name springs up only after the victim has shown all the
accepted evidences of guilt.

There was one reason why a man much less sensitive than Marcus should
have been thrown off his balance by this letter. It was a fact that
every afternoon, at half past two o'clock, rain or shine, with
bachelor-like punctuality, he passed up and down in front of Miss
Pillbody's school, and looked sentimentally at the closed blinds,
thinking unutterable things. He was also addicted to standing at the
hydrant on the corner, and gazing hard at the house, wishing that he