How long he remained there staring into the darkness he did not know. Time and place were swallowed up and lost. He was conscious only of the steady approach of an overwhelming calamity. It was gathering from every point of the compass at the same time. It was wrapping him round like a sable pall. It was obliterating one by one every star of hope and promise. Ruth came to look for him at length, and she uttered a little cry when she saw him, for his face was like the face of the dead. CHAPTER XIV THE STORM BURSTS "Why, Ralph, what is the matter?" And Ruth seized one of his hands and stared eagerly and appealingly into his face. He shook himself as if he had been asleep, then closed the door quietly and followed her into the living-room. "Are you not well, Ralph?" Ruth persisted, as she drew up his chair a little nearer the fire. Mrs. Penlogan laid her knitting in her lap, and her eyes echoed Ruth's inquiry. "I've heard some bad news," he said, speaking with an effort, and he dropped into his chair and stared at the fire. "Bad news!" both women echoed. "What has happened, Ralph?" He hesitated for a moment, then he told them the story as Dorothy had told it to him. "But why should you worry?" Ruth questioned quickly. "You were nowhere near the plantation." "But how am I to prove it?" he questioned. "Have you been alone all the afternoon?" "Absolutely." "But you have surely seen someone?" "As bad luck would have it, I have not seen a soul." "But some people may have seen you." "That is likely enough. Twenty people in the village looking from behind their curtains may have seen me walk out with a gun under my arm." "And it's the first time you've carried a gun since we left Hillside." "The very first time, and it looks as if it will be the last." "But surely, Ralph, no one would believe for a moment that you could do such a thing?" his mother interposed. "It's been some awkward accident, you may depend. It will all come out right in the morning." "I'm very sorry for you, mother," he said slowly. "You've had trouble enough lately, God knows. We all have, for that matter. But it is of no use shutting our eyes to the fact that this is a very awkward business, and while we should hope for the best, we should prepare for the worst." "What worst do you refer to, Ralph?" she asked, a little querulously. "You surely do not think----" "I hardly know what to think, mother," he interrupted, for it was quite clear she did not realise yet the gravity of the situation. "It may mean imprisonment and the loss of my good name, which would mean the loss of everything and the end of the world for me." "Oh no; surely not," and the tears began to gather in her eyes.