urned and looked at her. But in the mingled
dusk and firelight only the pale outline of her face was visible.

"Enid!" he cried, with sudden resolution, "it must be faced. It must be
said. I'm not what you think me. I'm a fraud--a lie--an impostor. No
more a Prophet--no more inspired than you--or Bale-Corphew!" He stopped
abruptly and drew a slow, deep breath.

The pause that followed was long and strained. In the grip of strong
emotions, each stood rigid, striving vainly to read the other's face. At
last, goaded by the silence, he spoke again.

"You have done this!" he cried. "You have compelled me to tell you! I
came to these people; I duped them--and gloried in duping them. I
despised them, understood them, traded on them without a scruple. Then
you came. You came--and the scheme was shattered. The whole thing, that
had bubbled and sparkled, became suddenly like flat champagne. That is a
common simile, but it is descriptive. The acting of an actor depends
upon his audience. While my audience was composed of fools, I fooled
them; but when you came--you with your scepticism, your curiosity, your
feminine dependency--I lost my cue. I became conscious of the footlights
and the make-up." Again he paused; and again he endeavored to read her
face. His manner was still restrained, but below his calm were the
stirrings of a deep agitation. There was tense anxiety in the set of his
lips, an inordinate anticipation in the keenness of his eyes. For a
space he stood waiting; then, as she made no effort towards response, he
stepped to her side.

"Say something!" he exclaimed. "Speak to me! I am waiting for you to
speak."

With a low, frightened murmur she drew back, extending her hands, as if
to ward him off.

The sound and the movement stung him to action. With a speed that might
have been construed into fear, he came still nearer.

"Enid!" he said. "Enid!"

But again she retreated involuntarily.

"Oh, why did you do it?" she exclaimed, suddenly, in a faint, shaken
voice. "Oh, why did you do it? Why did you do it?"

For an instant her tone and her manner daunted him; then he straightened
his body and raised his head.

"I did it for what is reckoned the most sordid motive in the world," he
said, in a level voice. "I did it for money!"

"For money?" With a scared movement she turned upon him, and for the
first time since he had made his revelation, he saw her pale, alarmed,
incredulous face in the full light of the f