"In telling my grand secret, I had been cautious to keep all possibility of proof to myself. They knew that my first wife, your old lady love, was living, but had no means of proving the fact, or even that I had ever been married at all, otherwise my position might have been dangerous; as it was, those two women were like flies in a spider's web. "Our child, your nephew, was born, and died, fortunately for us all. They were obliged to trust me a little then. Your wife summoned me to the house, for she was afraid to claim help from any other human being--I went, and with my own hands buried it under a cypress tree in your grounds. That heroic woman stood by and watched. She would not trust me out of her sight, fearing that I might attempt to see Elsie, whom she guarded like a mother bird when hawks are near. Noble soul. It was all useless; I had no wish to see that faithless little imp, and as for her, I dare say she was glad to get rid of me even at the bitter cost she was paying. In fact I know she was, after that other noble creature took up her burden. "Well, after this I got a little money from your wife now and then, under threats of claiming my wife, which always brought her to terms--remember I had told her she was not my legal wife, but held proofs that she was--I could claim or reject her as I pleased. "But one day a new idea came into my head; I found out that you were coming home just as the steamer which brought you was on the coast. That your will had been made, leaving all you had to be equally divided between your wife and sister. If you should never reach shore Elsie would be worth claiming in earnest. But with that news came a letter from my wife; against my commands she was following me to this country, just when her presence was certain ruin." The man broke off in his narration here, evidently convulsed with more than physical pain, specks of foam flew to his lips, great drops of agony stood on his forehead. "Brandy; give me some brandy!" he cried out huskily. "Some brandy, I say." Mellen poured some brandy into a glass and held it to his mouth. He drank eagerly, and sank back to the floor again. "What's the use of talking about that? I would have saved her at the last, and tried hard enough, but the storm was too much for me. After all that, you baffled me and got on shore; the fiends must have guided that pilot boat. I got frightened too. It was not a part of my programme to go down with you." "Wretch!" said Mellen, struck with a sudden idea, "you were the person who nearly lost me among the breakers." "Yes," answered Ford. "We both had a narrow chance, but the risk was worth running--that is, if your will really was made--but when you once touched shore all hope for me was over. I must leave America; I sent word to your wife that I must have twenty-five thousand dollars or claim my wife.