uly," went on
Heath wearily, "I was awakened by Rydal coming into my room. I could see
at once that he was in desperate trouble, and he sat down near me and
hid his face in his hands and cried like a child. There was enough in
his story to account for his tears, God knows. His wife was ill, perhaps
dying; he told me that first, but that I already knew, and then he made
his confession to me. He had embezzled money from the bank and it could
only be a matter of hours before a warrant was issued for his arrest. I
must not dwell too long on these details, but they are all part of the
story, and without them you could not understand my own place in what
follows. It is sufficient to tell you that I returned at once with him,
and his wife added her appeal to mine to make her husband agree to leave
the country. If she lived, she could join him later, but if he was
arrested before she died, she could only feel double torment and
remorse. In the end we prevailed upon him to agree to go. The sin was
not his morally"--Heath's voice rose in passionate vindication of his
act--"in my eyes, and, I believe, in the eyes of God, the man was not
responsible. I grant you his criminal weakness, I grant you his fall
from honour and honesty, but then and now I know that I did right. The
one chance for his soul's welfare was the chance of escape. Prison would
have broken and destroyed him. A white man among native criminals. His
life had been a good life, and an open, honest life up to the time that
his wife's constant demand for what he could not give broke down the
barriers and made him a felon."

He wiped his face with his handkerchief and drew a deep breath. This was
how he had argued the point with himself, and he still held to the
validity of his argument.

"That was early on the morning of July the twenty-ninth?" asked
Coryndon.

"Yes, that was the date. There was a small tramp in port, going to South
America. I had once been of some little assistance to the captain, and I
knew that he would do much to serve me. I went on board her at once, and
saw him, disguising none of the facts or the risk it entailed, and he
agreed willingly to assist Rydal. He was to be at a certain point below
the wharves that evening, and the _Lady Helen_ was to send a boat in to
pick him up."

"I understand," said Coryndon, "the warrant was issued about noon the
same day?"

"As far as I know, Joicey gave information against him just about then,
but he had