The men stepped back. With bowed head, the flag in his hand, Martin Moreland turned and sought what safety was promised him in the shelter of his private room. There were men in his employ awaiting him there, and they watched him with repulsed eyes as he tottered into the room carrying the white emblem. Freed from the torturing hands that had gripped him, he tried to think. He made an effort to recover the ground that their faces told him he had lost in their estimation. Mechanically, he made his way to his chair. The absurd flag was in his hands. What would he do with it? He glanced around and then he thrust the holder into an urn standing on a bookcase behind his chair. It was an unfortunate disposal to make of the flag, for when he dropped into his accustomed seat, it was hanging directly over his head, its snowy whiteness stained by contact with the street and with the blood of the woman who for many years had borne it, a self-imposed penance for the easement of her soul. In the directors’ room, Rebecca lifted her face to Jason. She stretched out her shaking arms. “Jason!” she cried, “do you think this is the truth? Are you my baby? Oh, are you my baby? And if you are, will you come to me only a minute before I go?” Jason came crashing to his knees beside her. He slid an arm under her body and caught her shoulders in a firm grip. “Yes, I think it is the truth,” he said. “I believe you, and I believe him. In my heart I feel that you are my mother.” He gathered her into his arms and kissed her face and her hands while she made her crossing. CHAPTER XX “THE DECISION MARCIA REACHED” When Marcia and the little milliner finished compiling the bill for the length of time that Marcia had boarded and cared for Jason, they did not know what to do with it. They were in doubt as to whether they should present it at once or wait until the Morelands made their move and then use the bill to counteract it. They discussed every phase of the situation repeatedly. They waited what seemed to them a long time, and at last it was Marcia who reached a decision for both of them. “I simply refuse to live in this uncertainty any longer,” she said to Nancy. “I’m going to take this bill to Ashwater. Albert Rich is the best lawyer there. In the old days I did a great deal of work for Mrs. Rich. I believe that he is a considerate man. I know that he has no cause to love Martin Moreland. I’m going to tell him what I think is necessary. I’m going to ask his opinion. I’m tired shivering and shaking and being tortured with fear. I realize that Martin Moreland’s hand is heavy, but after all, there are two things that are stronger than he—one is public opinion and the other is God. Both of them would be against him if the truth were known.” Nancy thought deeply.