"The truth, yes! But this can't be true," stammered Gordon. "It is. Mr. O'Neil did try to interest the Heidlemanns, but they wouldn't have anything to do with him, and the S. R. & N. was going to smash when Mr. Illis came along, barely in time. It was too exiting and dramatic for anything the way Mr. O'Neil found him when he was in hiding--" "Hiding?" "Yes. There was something about blackmail, or a secret arrangement between Mr. Illis and the Yukon River lines--I couldn't understand just what it was--but, anyhow, Murray took advantage of it and saved the North Pass and the S. R. & N. at the same time. It was really a perfectly wonderful stroke of genius. I determined at once that you should stop these lies and correct the general idea that he is in the pay of the Trust. Why, he went to Cortez last week and they threatened his life!" Mrs. Gordon, who had listened, said, quietly: "Don't blame Curtis for that. That bloody affray at Beaver Canyon has made Cortez bitter against every one connected with the Heidlemanns." "What about this blackmail?" said her husband, upon whose ear the word had made a welcome impression. "I don't understand what you mean by O'Neil's 'saving' the North Pass and his own road at the same time--nor Illis's being in hiding." "Neither do I." Natalie confessed, "but I know you have made a mistake that ought to be set right." "Why doesn't he come out with the truth?" "The whole thing is secret." "Why?" Natalie shrugged hopelessly, and Gordon lost himself in frowning thought. "This is amazing," he said, brusquely, after a moment. "It's vital. It affects all my plans. I must know everything at once." "I'm sorry I paid so little attention." "Never mind; try it again and be diplomatic. If O'Neil won't tell you, question Appleton--you can wind him around your fingers easily enough." The girl eyed him with a quick change of expression. "Isn't it enough to know that the Trust has nothing to do with the S. R. & N.?" "No!" he declared, impatiently. "I must know the whole inside of this secret understanding--this blackmail, or whatever it is." "Then--I'm sorry." "Come! Don't be silly. You can do me a great service." "You said you no longer disliked Mr. O'Neil and that he couldn't harm you." "Well, well! Must I explain the whys and wherefores of every move I make?" "It would be spying if I went back. The matter is confidential--I know that." "Will you do as I ask?" he demanded. Natalie answered him firmly: "No! I told you what I did tell you only so that you might correct--" "You rebel, eh?" Gordon spoke out furiously. It was their first clash since the marriage. Mrs. Gordon looked on, torn between loyalty to her husband and a desire to protect her daughter. She was searching her mind painfully for the compromise, the half-truth that was her remedy for every moral distress. At length she said, placatingly: