"Do you doubt too, sir? Well, it's natural. I used to, and I tried to doubt it; a hundred times over when I was going to be sure that he was a villain, I used to say to myself as I went and fed my fish, it's impossible, a man with a wife and child like--" "Hush! for God's sake, hush!" cried Bayle passionately, and then with a burst of fury, he caught the clerk by the throat. "It is a lie; Robert Hallam could not be such a wretch as that!" "Mr Bayle, sir," said Thickens calmly, and in an appealing tone; "can't you see now, sir, why I sent to you? Do you think I don't know how you loved that lady, and how much she and her bright little fairy of a child are to you? Why, sir, if it hadn't been for them I should have gone straight to Sir Gordon, and before now that scoundrel would have been in Lincoln jail." "But you are mistaken, Thickens. Man, man, think what you are saying. Such a charge would break her heart, would brand that poor innocent child as the daughter of a felon. Oh, it cannot be!" he cried excitedly. "Heaven would not suffer such a wrong." "I've been years proving it, sir; years," said Thickens slowly; "and until I was sure, I've been as silent as the dead. Fifty thousand pounds' worth of securities at least have been taken from that safe, and dummies filled up the spaces. Why, sir, a score of times people wanted these deeds, and he has put them off for a few days till he could go up to London, raise money on others, and get those wanted from the banker's hands." "But you knew something of this, then?" "Yes, I knew it, sir--that is, I suspected it. Until I got the keys made, I was not sure." "Does--does any one else know of this?" "Yes, sir." "Ah!" ejaculated Bayle, with quite a moan. "Robert Hallam, sir." "Ah!" ejaculated Bayle, drawing a breath full of relief. "You have not told a soul?" "No, sir. I said to myself there's that sweet lady and her little child; and that stopped me. I said to myself, I must go to the trustiest friend they have, sir, and that was you. Now, sir, I have told you all. The simple truth. What am I to do?" Christie Bayle dropped into a chair, his eyes staring, his blanched face drawn, and his lips apart, as he conjured up the scene that must take place--the arrest, the wreck of Mrs Hallam's life, the suffering that would be her lot. And at last, half maddened, he started up, and stood with clenched hands gazing fiercely at the man who had fired this train. "Well, sir," said Thickens coldly, "will you get them and the old people away before the exposure comes?" "No," cried Bayle fiercely, "this must not--shall not be. It must be some mistake. Mr Hallam could not do such a wrong. Man, man, do you not see that such a charge would break his wife's heart?" "It was in the hope that you would do something for them, sir, that I told you all this first." "But we must see Mr Dixon and Sir Gordon at once." "And they will--you know what."