him writhed as if in
multitudinous agony; and, where the thick moonlight touched house or
road, or left patches of white on river and pool, there the earth
seemed smitten as with leprosy. Silverthorn, reaching his room in an
hour after Vibbard had left it, was not at first surprised at his
absence. Afterward he grew anxious; he went out, ran all the way to
Winwood's house, and came back, hoping to find that his friend had
returned while he was searching for him. He sat down and waited; he
kept awake very late; his head grew heavy, and he fell asleep in his
chair, dreaming with a dull sense of pain, and also of excitement,
about his new access of comparative wealth.

A heavy step and the turning of the door-knob awoke him. Moonlight
came in at the window--pale, for the dawn was breaking--and his lamp
still flickered on the table. Streaked with these conflicting
glimmers, Vibbard stood before him,--his clothes torn, his hat gone,
his face pale and fierce.

"What have you been doing?" asked Silverthorn wearily, and without
surprise, for he was too much dazed.

"You--_you_!" said Vibbard, hoarsely, pointing sharply at him, as if
his livid gaze was not enough. "You have been taking her from me!"

"Ida?" queried Silverthorn, with what seemed to the other to be a
laughing sneer.

"Are you shameless?" demanded Vibbard. "Why don't you lie down there
and ask me to forgive you for demanding so little? I've no doubt you
are sorry that you couldn't get the whole of my money! But I suppose
you were afraid you wouldn't receive even the half, if you told me
beforehand what you meant to do."

Silverthorn was numb from sleeping in a cramped posture and without
covering; but a deeper chill shook him at these words. He tried to get
up, but felt too weak, and had to abandon it. He shivered heavily.
Then he put his hand carefully into the breast of his coat, and after
a moment drew out his pocket-book.

"Here it is," said he, very quietly. "I came home intending to give
you back your money, but you were not here."

"You expect me to believe that?" retorted Vibbard, scornfully, "when
I know that you went from here after receiving the check, and--ah! I
couldn't have believed it, if I hadn't heard--"

"You overheard us, then? You came, though I warned you not to? And
what did you hear?" Silverthorn's lips certainly curled with contempt
now.

Vibbard answered: "I heard you pleading with Ida to promise herself to
you."

"That's a