‘Yes, you must give the house up. You cannot keep it on,’ said Marston. He didn’t feign the slightest sorrow. Why should he? He was only too delighted to think that at last he was going to get some pleasure out of the money he had risked so much to get. Roughly estimated, he had cleared by his share in the transactions of Smith and Co. some £25,000. Some of the ‘hauls,’ as they are technically called, had been enormous. He could employ his £25,000 legitimately now; and he was certain that with this capital and his talents he could speculate as successfully in honesty as he had formerly done in crime. ‘Yes, you must give up your house,’ he repeated; ‘and the sooner the better.’ ‘It is a terrible blow,’ exclaimed the old man, the tears coming into his eyes, ‘to break up the home where we’ve been so happy all these years. Poor mother—how ever shall I break it to her!’ ‘I have a plan,’ said Marston, eagerly, taking the old gentleman’s hand, and watching his face anxiously. ‘Let this marriage take place as soon as possible. Ruth does not wish to be separated from you. Come and live with us. That can be your excuse to Mrs. Adrian for selling off.’ For a moment the old man doubted if he heard aright. Then, smiling through the big drops that trickled down his cheek, he pressed the young man’s hand exclaiming: ‘God bless you, Ned Marston; you are a good fellow!’ So in due time it was all arranged. The marriage was to take place in a short time; there was no need for a long engagement now, for had not the sweethearts been as good as engaged over ten years ago? Mrs. Adrian, of course, protested against the idea that she should give up her home and go to Ruth’s; but she yielded at last—yielded suddenly and decisively when Mr. Adrian began to oppose the idea, pretending that he had thought better of it. At the Adrians’ Marston passed now the happiest hours he had ever known. He had grown to both admire and reverence his future father-in-law. The nobility of the old man’s character was brought iuto full relief by the blow which had fallen on him so unexpectedly; and often Marston would watch him as he sat with Ruth’s hind in his, and wondered what his own old age would be like. He shuddered even as he thought of it. Yet when he could keep his thoughts from the past and lose his dread of the future, he was supremely happy. Ruth’s love seemed to have flung a cloak of purity about him that shielded and protected him. It seemed to him that he had passed from purgatory to paradise; that loving Ruth, and being beloved by her, he was lifted to a purer atmosphere, where nothing that was evil could follow him. This was the bright side of his life during the days of courtship—during the time that must pass before he could call Ruth his wife. The gold-robbery, in which he had been the leading spirit, had created an enormous sensation. Not only England but the Continent rang with the story of the daring and mysterious theft.