For the first time an emotion like fear entered his soul, but it passed the moment the priestly ardor in him saw which way his duty lay. If Rollie had grossly sold him into the power of the actress at the price of his own escape, he felt more sorry for the poor wretch than before. He was glad that he had destroyed the I.O.U., discovery of which might have incriminated the young man helplessly, and he resolved to continue upon his mission as a saviour, even though he himself were lost. It suddenly occurred to him with doubling force that this was what it meant to be a saviour. With this conviction firmly in his mind, Hampstead turned to Wilson, Wadham, and Hayes, who had been waiting in considerate silence, and led the way upward to the dimly lighted lobby of the bank, feeling himself grow stronger with every step he mounted; for the maze of complexities in which he found himself had quickly reduced itself to the simple duty of being true to trust. Eternal Loyalty was again to be the price of success. As his friends gathered about him on the upper floor for a word of conference, they were astonished at the change in his expression. It was calm and even confident; while a kind of spiritual radiance suffused his features. "My friends," the minister began in an even voice, that nevertheless was full of the echo of deep feeling, "I can offer you no explanation of the scene to which you have just been witnesses. It is almost inevitable that you should think me guilty or criminally culpable. I am neither!" The affirmation was made as if to acquit his conscience, rather than as if to be expected to be believed. "But," and his utterance became incisive, "there is nothing to that effect which can be said now." "Something had better be said now," blurted out the practical Wilson flatly, "or this story in the morning papers will damn you as black as tar." "Not one word," declared the minister with quiet emphasis, "can be spoken now!" In Hampstead’s bearing there was a notable return of that subtle power of man mastery which had been so important an element in his success. Before this even the aggressive, outspoken Wilson was silent; but the three men stood regarding John with an air at once sympathetic and doubtful. They were also expectant, for it was evident from the minister’s manner that he was deliberating whether he might not take them at least a little way into his confidence.