"'He's got on my nerves and my conscience,' said Harry. 'By Jove! he haunts me. When I heard of this mysterious Englishman to-day I got a chill.' "'You go buy yourself a small shovel and a pocket light to-morrow,' I suggested, and at night go back in the hills with the Bishop's head and bury it.' "'And if I get into trouble I want you to take care of me.' "I made no answer. It didn't seem necessary, but I said: 'There's another matter of which I have come to talk with you. Our friend Roger is in trouble.' "I told him the story of Roger's downfall. It got under his vest, and I added: 'Now, Harry, it's up to you to indulge in some more philanthropy. You ought to help him.' "'What--what can I do?' he asked in amazement. "'Lend him the money--twenty thousand dollars. It isn't all that the public will charge against you on Roger's account, but it will do.' "'Harry sank in his chair and threw up his hands as if grasping for a straw. "'It's my whole allowance for the year,' he said, 'and I couldn't appeal to the Governor.' "'Nevertheless you ought to do it, for Roger told me that it was your pace that brought him where he is.' "'What an ass!' Harry exclaimed, and the old Bishop seemed to indorse his view. 'By the blue beard of the Caliph, what am I to do?' "'Pay it,' I insisted. "'Pay it and die,' he groaned. 'I shall have to do it somehow, but this kind of thing is grinding me.' "'You can go to my ranch in Wyoming and live on nothing for six months,' I said. 'When you get back I'll lend you enough to tide you over! "'I'll do it,' he said, as if it were the very straw he had been reaching for. "Then he began to tell me of other troubles. Marie had been decidedly cool to Harry at the servants' ball. Then he had met her on the street, and she had barely noticed him and hurried away, with the young Reverend Robert Knowles at her side. Harry was, fortunately, going slow, but he had received internal injuries and was suffering from shock. "'The old man is at the bottom of it,' I explained. 'You gave him a dose from the wrong bottle. It p'isoned him.' "'By Jove! What a prude he is!' said Harry. 'Upon my word that is one of the noblest books I ever read--contains a great lesson, don't you know? It takes you straight to the heights.' "'Too straight,' I said. 'It turns out for nothing. It crosses a morass to avoid going around. When you reach the high ground you are covered with mud and slime. You need to be washed and disinfected, and perhaps you've caught a fever that will last as long as you live. Many a boy and girl have got mired in this swamp fiction that you enjoy so much. There are many of us who prefer to go around the swamp and keep on a decent footing even if it takes longer.' "'We want to know all sides of life,' said Harry. "'And would you care to see the girl you loved studying life in a brothel?' "'Well, really, you know, that's different,' Harry stammered.