* * * * * When we were in the train, with the lights of Jersey City flying past us, I took occasion to examine Curtiss again. He was lying back in the seat with his eyes closed, and the posture made his face seem even lanker and grimmer than it had at first appeared. I saw that I must keep my wits about me. When he awoke to a full realisation of the trick fate had played him, he might, in his desperation---- "But you said Mrs. Lawrence told you she knew why Marcia had run away." The voice fairly made me jump, it came so suddenly, so unexpectedly. "She did," I answered, turning to find his dark eyes open and strangely bright. "But of course she was mistaken. She fancied it was something else, or she wouldn't have said what she did." "What did she say? You've told me, but I've forgotten." "She said that the marriage wasn't impossible--that the choice should be left to you." He pondered this a moment, then his lips curved into an ironical smile. "No doubt another family secret!" he said. "One would think we were in Corsica or Sicily! Well, we'll try to bear it. By the way, who's this fellow Godfrey, who sent you that message?" "He's a newspaper-man, a friend of mine--a mighty clever fellow." His face grew grimmer still. "More food for the yellow press," he said, with a harsh laugh. "They certainly owe us a vote of thanks." He was in a dangerous mood. I saw his face harden and darken as he gazed out through the window. His lips moved, but no sound came from them. Then they closed again, compressed and bloodless, and he settled back in his seat as though he had taken a final resolution. I shuddered as I tried to guess what it was. I could imagine but one end for a drama so hideous as this. And then, as I lay back in the seat, gazing at him, a sudden ray of light flashed across my brain. That contour of the face--that poise of the head--where had I seen them? Where but in the portrait of Ruth Endicott which hung upon the wall of the Kingdon cottage! Since he resembled his father, he would, of course, resemble her. Another link in the chain, I told myself; and trembled to think how strong it was. * * * * * Nothing about the house had changed. As we drove up to the door, I saw that the blinds were still drawn, as they had been at the time of my first visit, and no ray of light came through them. It seemed a house of death, and a little shiver ran through me as Curtiss rang the bell.