"The fishwomen and other superstitious people say, because their murderers have not been punished." "And the murderers are--" "Those who survived and profited by the murder, of course?" "Jer-ri-choo-woo!" exploded Duff Salter. "Young man," he wrote deliberately, "you have an idle tongue." "Friend Salter, you are blind as well as deaf. Do you know Miss Podge Byerly?" "No. Do you?" "She's common! Agnes Wilt uses her as a stool-pigeon. She fetches, and carries, and flies by night. One of the school directors shoved her on the public schools for intimate considerations. Perhaps you'll see him about the house if you look sharp and late some night." "Jer-rich-co! Jericho!" Duff Salter was decidedly red in the face, and his grave gray eyes looked both fierce and convicted. He _had_ seen a school director visiting the house, but thought it natural enough that he should take a kind interest in one of the youthful and pretty teachers. The deaf man returned to his pencil and tablets. "Do you know, Mr. Van de Lear, that what you are saying is indictable language? It would have exposed you to death where I have lived." The young man tossed his head recklessly. Duff Salter now saw that his usually sallow face was flushed up to the roots of his long dry hair and almost colorless whiskers, as if he had been drinking liquors. Forgetting to use the tablets, Calvin spoke aloud, but not in as high a key as formerly: "Mr. Salter, Agnes Wilt has no heart. She was a step-niece of the late Mrs. Zane--her brother's daughter. The girl's father was a poor professional man, and died soon after his child was born, followed at no great distance to the grave by his widow. While a child, Agnes was cold and subtle. She professed to love me--that was the understanding in our childhood. She has forgotten me as she has forgotten many other men. But she is beautiful, and I want to marry her. You can help me." "What do you want with a cold and calculating woman?" wrote Duff Salter stiffly. "What do you want particularly with such a dangerous woman--a demon, as you indicate?" "I want to save her soul, and retrieve her from wickedness. Upon my word, old man, that's my only game. You see, to effect that object would set me up at once with the church people. I'm told that a little objection to my prospects in the governor's church begins to break out. If I can marry Agnes Wilt, she will recover her position in Kensington, and make me more welcome in families. I don't mind telling you that I have been a little gay." "That's nothing," wrote Duff Salter smilingly. "So were the sons of Eli." "Correct!" retorted Calvin. "I need a taming down, and only matrimony can do it. Now, with your aid I can manage it. Miss Wilt does not fancy me. She can be made to do so, however, by two causes." "And they are--"