I can't endure that you put me out of your heart--" Jennie rose with determination, walked to the window and laughed hysterically. "Well, I'm going to put you out. Captain Welford and his men are coming. They've just turned the corner!" The man's figure slowly straightened, and his eyes closed in resignation. "Then it's God's will and my work is done." With a sudden cry Jennie threw herself in his arms. "Forgive me, dear Lord. I can't do this hideous thing! It's my duly, but I can't. My darling--my own! You shall not die. I was mad. Forgive me! Forgive me! My own--" "Halt!" The sharp command of the Captain rang outside the door. "Get into this room--quick--" the girl cried, pushing Socola into the adjoining room and slamming the door as Dick entered the hall. She faced the Captain with a smile. "It's all right, now, Dick. I thought I had discovered an important secret. It was a mistake--" The Captain smiled. "You don't mind my looking about the house?" "_Searching_ the house?" "Just the lower floor?" "I do mind it. How dare you suggest such a thing, sir--" "Because I've made a guess at the truth. You discovered important evidence incriminating Socola. Your first impulse was to do your duty--you weakened at the last moment--" "Absurd!" she gasped. "I happened to hear a door slam as I entered. I'll have to look around a little." He started to the door behind which Socola had taken refuge. Jennie confronted him. "You can't go in there--" "It's no use, Jennie--I'm going to search that room--the whole house if necessary." "Why?" "I know that Socola is here--" "And if he is?" "I'll arrest him--" "On what charge?" "He is a Federal spy and you know it--" "You can't prove it." "I've found the evidence. I have searched his rooms--" "Searched his _rooms_?" "Your servant told me that he was here. I leaped to a conclusion, forced his door and found this--" He thrust a well-thumbed copy of the cipher code of the Federal Secret Service into her hand. "You--you--can't execute him, Dick," Jennie sobbed. "I will." "You can't. I love him. He can do no more harm here." "He's done enough. His life belongs to the South--" She placed her trembling hand on his arm. "You are sure that deep down in your heart there's not another motive?" "No matter how many motives--one is enough. I have the evidence on which to send him to the gallows--" The girl's head drooped. "And I gave it to you--God have mercy!" The tears began to stream down her checks. Dick moved uneasily and looked the other way. "I've got to do it," he repeated stubbornly. Her voice was the merest whisper when she spoke. "You're not going to arrest him, Dick. He will leave Richmond never to enter the South again. I'll pledge my life on his promise. His death can do us no good. It can do you no good--I--I--couldn't live and know that I had killed the man I love--" "You haven't killed him. He has forfeited his life a thousand times in his work as a spy."