Connor sat at one end of the row of chairs moodily eying the paper. Jimmy, thoughtfully stroking his beard at the other end, suddenly rose and walked to where his brooding confederate sat. The man shrunk back as he approached, and Jimmy, seating himself by his side, bent forward and said something in a low voice. He spoke rapidly, and Angel, watching them closely, saw a look of incredulous surprise come into Connor’s face. Then wrath and incredulity mingled, and Connor sprang up, striking the back of the chair with his fist. “What?” he roared. “Give up a chance of a fortune? I’ll see you----” Jimmy’s voice never rose, but he gripped Connor’s arm and pulled him down into his chair. “I won’t! I won’t! D’ye think I’m going to throw away----” Jimmy released the man’s arm and rose with a shrug of his shoulders. He walked to where Kathleen was standing. “Miss Kent,” he said, and hesitated. “It is difficult for me to say what I have to say; but I want to tell you that so far as I am concerned the fortune is yours. I shall make no claim to it, and I will afford you every assistance that lies in my power to discover the word that is hidden in the verse.” The girl made no reply. Her lips were set tight, and the hard look that Angel had noticed when the lawyer had referred to her father came back again. Jimmy waited a moment for her to speak, but she made no sign, and with a slight bow he walked toward the door. “Stop!” It was Kathleen that spoke, and Jimmy turned and waited. “As I understand this will,” she said slowly, “you are one of the men to whom my father owed his ruin.” His eyes met hers unfalteringly. “Yes,” he said simply. “One of the men that I have to thank for years of misery and sorrow,” she continued. “When I saw my father slowly sinking, a broken-hearted man, weighed down with the knowledge of the folly that had brought his wife and child to comparative poverty; when I saw my father die, crushed in spirit by his misfortunes, I never thought I should meet the man who brought his ruin about.” Still Jimmy’s gaze did not waver. Impassive, calm and imperturbable, he listened unmoved to the bitter indictment. “This will says you were a man of my father’s own class, one who knew the tricks by which a gentle, simple man, with a childish faith in such men as you, might be lured into temptation.” Jimmy made no reply, and the girl went on in biting tones-- “A few days ago you helped me to escape from men whom you introduced with an air of superiority as thieves and blackmailers. That it was you who rendered me this service I shall regret to the end of my days. You! You! You!” She flung out her hand scornfully. “If they were thieves, what are you? A gambler’s tout? A decoy? A harpy preying on the weakness of your unfortunate fellows?” She turned to Connor.