As the reporter spoke, a slow flush spread over Caruth’s cheeks. The boy had aged a good deal in the past month; experience had made him far more of a man than he had been when Marie Fitzhugh first came to him. Advice which he had received meekly in New York, he resented in Russia. “Thank you,” he returned stiffly. “I don’t doubt your advice is good. I should probably say the same to another man under the same circumstances. But please understand, once for all, that it is not for me. The only question is, will you help me or shall I have to seek farther?” “Oh, I’ll help you, confound you!” returned the reporter. “What do you want to know?” “I want to know about Miss Fitzhugh. If she has gone back to her relatives and is safe and well, I want to know it. If she is under arrest, I want to know it. If she is in trouble with the Brotherhood on account of the loss of the gold, I want to know it. And wherever she is, if she needs help, I want to get to her and give it.” “Humph! That’s a good-sized program you’ve laid out, isn’t it? Well, the Lord watches over children, lovers, and--well, fill the blank yourself. I can give you some news. I heard it last night, and was debating whether to tell you or not. Miss Fitzhugh is in trouble with the Brotherhood. She is charged with responsibility for the loss of the gold. A special meeting is to be held to consider her case.” “Well?” “As I understand it, when any one has failed at anything and is summoned before the Inner Circle, it means that he or she is to be entrusted with some particularly dangerous duty. Some forlorn hope, such as throwing a bomb or something,--not as a punishment, you understand, but as a chance to retrieve the failure. Such a chance means almost certain death, either instant or later on the scaffold. I’m sorry, old man; I know it’s hard to bear, and I guess it’s best to tell you.” Caruth’s face was white, but his jaws were set. He passed by the reporter’s regrets as though they had not been spoken. “You speak as if it were all settled,” he grated. “Is it?” “Not yet. But it will be. There is no real doubt.” “When and where does the Inner Circle meet?” “I don’t know, but----” “Can you find out?” “I suppose so. But----” “I must be there.” The reporter straightened himself. “That’s impossible,” he declared. “Nothing is impossible!” There was an accent in Caruth’s voice that Bristow had never heard before. “Send word at once through your channels that I wish to appear before the Circle as a witness for Miss Fitzhugh. Say that I will submit to any and all conditions it cares to impose. Add that I am very rich and will be glad to contribute heavily to the cause in return for this privilege. Let them name their price and I will pay it.”