Gilbert at first was dumbfounded. He could hardly believe that Bennet at such a time could make such a proposition seriously; but he, too, soon perceived what lay behind it. "It is infamous!" he cried; "or the man must be out of his head. To select me of all people!" Then he looked at his father, whose weakness and loss of power were more and more evident every day. "What am I to do?" he asked. "How can I defend this man?" "He holds me in the hollow of his hand," observed Francis Eversleigh, with a pathetic shake in his voice. "I know, I know," said Gilbert. "And I suppose I must appear for him. But the thing is an outrage----" Gilbert was interrupted by a loud knocking at the door of his father's room--it was no ordinary knocking, but a knocking that spoke of some strong emotion on the part of the person who knocked. Gilbert strode to the door and opened it. The clerk who had replaced Williamson was standing there, and on his face was a terrified expression. "I must speak to Mr. Eversleigh immediately," he said hurriedly. "What is it, Mr. Whittaker?" asked Eversleigh, with a quick agitation. "I should like, begging Mr. Gilbert's pardon, to see you in private, sir," returned Whittaker, confusedly. "Please come into Mr. Silwood's room; there is no need for Mr. Gilbert to go from here. It is something I must show you personally in Mr. Silwood's room." "But of what nature is it?" "That I can scarcely tell, but you may be able to do so." Francis Eversleigh said no more, but went with Whittaker into Silwood's room. In a few moments he came back alone, looking so shattered that as soon as his son saw him he rushed forward to assist him. When Gilbert offered him his arm, he took it at once, and Gilbert could feel how his father shook and trembled. "What has happened?" he asked, after helping his father into a chair. "Yes, in a minute," stammered the other; "I am horribly upset, and I can stand so little now! In a minute I'll tell you all." He lay back in his chair with his eyes closed--the mere wreck of the handsome man he once had been. "A very strange thing has taken place, Gilbert," he said after a while--"a very strange thing indeed!" Eversleigh stopped, and Gilbert patiently waited till his father spoke again, his heart full of compassion and sorrow. For the moment, he forgot Bennet, and could think of nothing save the pitiable state of his father. At length Francis Eversleigh recovered himself sufficiently to stand up. "Come with me," he said to Gilbert, "to Mr. Silwood's room--that will be the simplest way of making you acquainted with what has happened." And Gilbert, with mingled feelings of curiosity and alarm, followed his father to the next floor. Halfway down the stairs, Eversleigh halted. "Whittaker thinks it's a burglary," he whispered mysteriously in Gilbert's ear. "A burglary! In the office!" said Gilbert, incredulously in a low voice. "Wait," cautioned Eversleigh. "Wait until you see."