arnest as he bent forward and looked full at the
clergyman.

"What can I do for you?"

Heath put the question tentatively, conscious of a sudden quick tension
in the atmosphere.

Coryndon's eyes fixed on him, like gripping hands, and he leaned a
little over the table.

"You can tell me how and when you got Rydal out of the country."

For a moment, it seemed to Heath that the whole room rocked, and that
blackness descended upon him in waves, blotting out the face of the man
who asked the question, destroying his identity, and leaving him only
the knowledge that the secret that he had guarded with all the strength
of his soul was known, inexplicably, to Hartley's friend. He tried to
frame a reply, but his words faltered through dry lips, and his face was
white and set.

"Why should you say that I helped Rydal?"

"Because," Coryndon's answer came quickly, "you told me so yourself last
night at dinner."

He heard Coryndon speak again, very slowly, so that every word came
clear into the confusion of his throbbing brain.

"I knew from Hartley that you were in Paradise Street on the evening of
the twenty-ninth of July, and that you saw and spoke to Absalom. I am
concerned in the case of finding that boy or his murderer, and anything
you can tell me may be of help to me in putting my facts together. I had
to come to your confidence by a direct question. Will you pardon me
when you consider my motive? I am not concerned with Rydal: my case is
with Absalom."

He looked sympathetically at the worn, drawn face across the table, that
was white and sick with recent fear.

"Tell me the events just as they came," he said gently. "You may be able
to cast light on the matter."

Heath looked up, and his eyes expressed his silent acceptance of
Coryndon's honesty of purpose.

"I will tell you, Mr. Coryndon. God knows that the case of this boy has
haunted me night and day. He was my best pupil, and when Hartley accused
me by inference, of complicity, I suffered as I believe few men have had
to suffer because I could not speak. I may not be able to assist you
very far, but all I know you shall know if you will listen to me
patiently."

Heath relapsed into silence for some little time, and when he spoke
again it was with the manner of a man who gives all his facts
accurately. He omitted no detail and he set the story of Rydal before
Coryndon, plainly and clearly.

Rydal had been a clerk in the Mangadone Bank, and had been