She stopped, and then went on hurriedly. "Years ago I gave it to a man who deceived and wronged me; a man whose life since then has been a shame and disgrace to all who knew him. A man who, once, a gentleman, sank so low as to become the associate of thieves and ruffians; sank so low, that when he died, by violence--a traitor even to them--his own confederates shrunk from him, and left him to fill a nameless grave. That man's body you found!" Cass started. "And his name was--?" "Part of your surname. Cass--Henry Cass." "You see why Providence seems to have brought that ring to you," she went on. "But you ask me why, knowing this, I am so eager to know if the ring was found by you in the road, or if it were found on his body. Listen! It is part of my mortification that the story goes that this man once showed this ring, boasted of it, staked, and lost it at a gambling table to one of his vile comrades." "Kanaka Joe," said Cass, overcome by a vivid recollection of Joe's merriment at the trial. "The same. Don't you see," she said, hurriedly, "if the ring had been found on him I could believe that somewhere in his heart he still kept respect for the woman he had wronged. I am a woman--a foolish woman, I know--but you have crushed that hope forever." "But why have you sent for me?" asked Cass, touched by her emotion. "To know it for certain," she said, almost fiercely. "Can you not understand that a woman like me must know a thing once and forever? But you CAN help me. I did not send for you only to pour my wrongs in your ears. You must take me with you to this place--to the spot where you found the ring--to the spot where you found the body--to the spot where--where HE lies. You must do it secretly, that none shall know me." Cass hesitated. He was thinking of his companions and the collapse of their painted bubble. How could he keep the secret from them? "If it is money you need, let not that stop you. I have no right to your time without recompense. Do not misunderstand me. There has been a thousand dollars awaiting my order at Bookham's when the ring should be delivered. It shall be doubled if you help me in this last moment." It was possible. He could convey her secretly there, invent some story of a reward delayed for want of proofs, and afterward share that reward with his friends. He answered promptly, "I will take you there."