He picked up a letter lying on the table. The ink was scarcely dry on it. It was lying on a sheet of clean white blotting-paper. It was to his father—saying good-bye. "The old man sent me a cheque," he mumbled. "I can’t find it anywhere. Must have lost it this afternoon. I suppose some beggar will cash it. Don’t much matter now, but it would have been useful to the old man: five pounds——" Again he laughed. "Rupert!" He turned then and looked at her. Perhaps something in her voice attracted him. "You remember giving me five pounds to put on Paulus? Well, I didn’t do it." He shook his head to and fro. "It doesn’t make any difference. I owe hundreds." "I put it on Ambuscade." He turned right round now staring at her, frowning. He did not understand. "Ambuscade started at a hundred to one." Ruby was laughing now. She moved toward him unsteadily. "Don’t play the fool," he said unsteadily. "It’s no use trying to—hoodwink me." "I put the five pounds on Ambuscade at a hundred to one. I didn’t dare tell you, dear—in fact, when the news of the objection came I couldn’t realise it. I’ve—I’ve got the ticket in my purse." The frown on Rupert’s face deepened. "I saw you draw some money—you had it in your purse." "I put a couple of my own sovereigns on Paulus. I backed Ambuscade with Barrett. They have an office in Piccadilly, London. If I go down to-morrow morning they’ll pay me five hundred pounds." Rupert rose and tottered towards her. His legs gave way at the knees like a drunken man. "Five hundred pounds!" He kept muttering to himself over and over again. "Five hundred pounds!" He poured himself out a glass of water from the sideboard and tossed it down his throat. Then he seized Ruby roughly by the shoulders. "You’re not fooling me. You swear it. If it was with Barrett they’ll pay up all right. They’re a big firm, they’ll pay up to-morrow." She managed to assure him she was speaking the truth. He began to laugh, then checked himself with an effort. "Why the devil didn’t you tell me before?" he cried savagely. "I might have——" He seized his hat and put it on. "I must get out of this. I must think it over. I want air. I can’t realise it.... My God, five hundred pounds! I’m saved." He opened the door. "Wait until I come back. I shan’t be long. Wait there until I come back." She listened to his footsteps descending the staircase. She heard the front door bang. She stood at the window and watched him walk down the street. He held himself erect, his face turned to the sky now. Ruby closed the window and drew down the blind. Then she sat down at the writing-table, and taking off her gloves picked up a pen. The cheque drawn by Reginald Crichton lay just inside one of the long white gloves. Picking it up she unfolded it and laid it on the white sheet of blotting paper. Five hundred pounds! CHAPTER III. SALVATION.