"You shall be paid," she said, loftily, "but there are certain things I wish you to promise me." In spite of the shortness of time, she fell into a brief reverie. Her active brain was running over the possibilities of the future. She wished to humiliate Derrice, to poison slightly for her the springs of happiness, and to survey from a distance the uneasy struggles of this victim who had so deeply angered her. But suppose she crushed her. Suppose her aunt would not leave Rossignol,--would stop to comfort her favourite, and investigate the cause of the disgrace overwhelming her. Vexatious circumstances might arise; something unforeseen might happen to implicate her in the matter. Her first duty was to herself. She would at this moment give up her vengeance, dear as it was to her, if it stood in the way of her personal advancement. She had better do so. The detective had taken a most unwise step in coming to see her. She must shake him off at once and for ever. "I will be frank with you," she said, hurriedly. "I had reason to suppose it would be a good thing to have this man exposed, but he has a relative,--a young woman who is sensitive. The shock of hearing what you have told me might be disastrous for her. I did not dream that he would prove to be so renowned a criminal." "It's a life sentence, ma'am, if we catch him." "We must not catch him," she said, haughtily. "I wish you to let the pursuit drop at once." "You do," he said, in a thick voice. "Yes,--I will make it up to you." "How, might I ask?" "I will pay your bill twice over." He chuckled huskily. "You might fill this house with bank-bills. You might cover old Katahdin with gold plate,--you couldn't move me any more than you'd move that same old mountain. I'm a Maine man, and when a Maine man makes up his mind you know the old saying about might that goes with it. H. Robinson don't go back of his word, and he's sworn to hunt this man down." There was a detestable sickening crease in his fat lips, and Chelda turned her head away for an instant. "It ain't your picnic now, you see," he went on, persuasively. "I've done your job. You pay me and I'm done with you. I'll follow this up on my own hook, and you needn't be one mite afraid of getting dragged in." If a look could have killed him, he and his secret would at once have sunk through the floor and nevermore been heard of. The look, however, did not kill, and in obstinate pride and with repressed self-satisfaction he presented a folded bill. Chelda looked over it. "I cannot pay you now," she said, cuttingly. "No odds,--I don't expect it. It was in the agreement that I'd wait, but you spoke of part payment. My travelling expenses ain't no flea-bite." Chelda slowly drew her purse from her pocket. "Where is this man now?" "We've located him in New York." "We?"