"Have you read it?" asked Dredge. "Striver said that he had sent a drawing of it to you." "Yes; we discovered the hiding-place of the jewels and found it empty. Now I wonder if Miss Destiny did read the cipher and steal the jewels." "She says she did not, and----" Here Dredge looked again at his watch. "I really have no time to say more: you must excuse me," and he hurried away rapidly. I turned to Gertrude when we heard the door close behind him. "Well," said I, with a half smile, "now that the truth has been discovered we can marry." She sobbed. "Oh, Cyrus, can you marry the niece of a murderess?" "I would marry you, if you committed the crime yourself," I said, kissing her fondly. And marry her I did two months later. Owing to the terrible death of Miss Destiny the story of her crime was not made public. There was some talk of Lucinda being brought in as an accomplice after the fact, but as she apparently was a half-witted creature she was left alone. She confessed, however, that after committing the crime Miss Destiny had rejoined her, and then the two had driven later to Mootley to meet Striver--who Miss Destiny thought was a woman--driving my motor car. I have often wondered since at the extraordinary nerve displayed by Miss Destiny on that fatal evening. She arrived fresh from the commission of a brutal crime and played her part as a startled lady admirably. All the time we were talking in Giles' house she had the eye in her pocket and knew the whole truth of the affair. I was amazed at the strength of character displayed by the frail little creature. It was extraordinary that avarice should have driven her to so desperate a course. But having taken it, she had managed wonderfully. But for the unguessed-of presence of Striver in the house her wickedness would never have been discovered. She was buried in Tarhaven, in an unhonoured grave, and Gertrude and I strove to forget her and her crimes as speedily as possible. Lucinda vanished when she found that the police intended to leave her alone, and I never learned what became of her. Striver also had disappeared, and we did not hear that he had been caught, although I believe Dredge made several attempts to find out his whereabouts, but without success. But of one person we did hear. That was Mr. Walter Monk, or as he still continued to call himself, Mr. Wentworth Marr. On the night before my marriage to Gertrude I was with her at The Lodge, and Cannington, who had come down to be my best man, was also present. He was in great spirits, and had been much impressed by the story of Miss Destiny's wickedness, which I had told him in detail. "Adventures are to the adventurous," said he gravely. "You certainly found a very good one, with a happy termination," and he glanced at Gertrude. "It was strange," I remarked musingly, "that you should have made that quotation as being by Wentworth Marr." "Yes. And at the time when we did not know who Wentworth Marr was."