"You have said enough now, so that you will either prove your words or apologize." "If you want proof, take your own relation with her. It's notorious; even Mildred has heard of it." "I can explain to her in a word." "Perhaps you can also explain that affair with Hilliard. If so, you had better do it. I suppose you didn't know anything about that, either. I suppose you don't know why he advanced that loan after once refusing it. They have a name for men like you who take money from women of her sort." Emerson uttered a terrible cry, and his face blanched to a gray pallor. "Do you mean to say--I sent--her--to Hilliard?" "Hilliard as good as told me so himself. Do you wonder that I am willing to spend a fortune to protect my girl from a man like you? I'm going to break you. I've got a foothold in this enterprise of yours, and I'll root you out if it takes a million. I'll kick you back into the gutter, where you belong." Boyd stood appalled at the violence of this outburst. The man seemed insane. He could not find words to answer him. "You did not come down here to tell me that," he said, at last. "No. I came here with a message from Mildred; she has told me to dismiss you once and for all." "I shall take my dismissal from no one but her. I can explain everything." "I expected you to say that. If you want her own words, read this." With shaking fingers, he thrust a letter before Emerson's eyes. "Read it!" The young man opened the envelope, and read, in a hand-writing he knew only too well: "DEAR BOYD,--The conviction has been growing on me for some time that you and I have made a serious mistake. It is not necessary to go into details--let us spare each other that unpleasantness. I am familiar with all that father will say to you, and his feelings are mine; hence there is no necessity for further explanations. Believe me, this is much the simplest way. "MILDRED." Boyd crushed the note in his palm and tossed it away carelessly. "You dictate well," he said, quietly, "but I shall tell her the truth, and she will--" "Oh no, you won't. You won't see her again. I have seen to that. Mildred is engaged to Willis Marsh. It's all settled. I warn you to keep away. Her engagement has been announced to all our friends on the yacht." "I tell you I won't take my dismissal from any one but her. I shall come aboard _The Grande Dame_ to-night." "Mr. Marsh and I may have something to say to that." Boyd wheeled upon Marsh with a look that made him recoil. "If you try to cross me, I'll strip your back and lash you till you howl like a dog." Marsh's florid face went pale; his tongue became suddenly too dry for speech. But Wayne Wayland was not to be cowed. "I warn you again to keep away from my daughter!" he cried, furiously. "And I warn you that I shall come aboard the yacht to-night alone." The president of the Trust turned, and, followed by his lieutenant, left the room without another word. CHAPTER XXVI IN WHICH A SCORE IS SETTLED