ood and
prepared men's minds for the tragic words which were shouted a moment
later from the next house.

"But she who uttered the scream knew of no tragedy save that which
was taking place in her own breast. She had just repulsed a dastardly
suitor, and seeing you enter so unexpectedly in a state of unaccountable
horror and agitation, was naturally stricken with dismay, and thought
she saw your ghost, or what was worse, a possible avenger; while you,
having failed to kill the man you sought, and having killed a man
you esteemed, let no surprise on her part lure you into any dangerous
self-betrayal. You strove instead to soothe her, and even attempted to
explain the excitement under which you laboured, by an account of your
narrow escape at the station, till the sudden alarm from next door
distracted her attention, and sent both your thoughts and hers in a
different direction. Not till conscience had fully awakened and the
horror of your act had had time to tell upon your sensitive nature, did
you breathe forth those vague confessions, which, not being supported by
the only explanations which would have made them credible, led her, as
well as the police, to consider you affected in your mind. Your pride as
a man and your consideration for her as a woman kept you silent, but did
not keep the worm from preying upon your heart.

"Am I not correct in my surmises, Dr. Zabriskie, and is not this the
true explanation of your crime?"

With a strange look, he lifted up his face.

"Hush!" said he; "you will waken her. See how peacefully she sleeps! I
should not like to have her wakened now, she is so tired, and I--I have
not watched over her as I should."

Appalled at his gesture, his look, his tone, Violet drew back, and for a
few minutes no sound was to be heard but the steady dip-dip of the oars
and the lap-lap of the waters against the boat. Then there came a
quick uprising, the swaying before her of something dark and tall and
threatening, and before she could speak or move, or even stretch forth
her hands to stay him, the seat before her was empty and darkness had
filled the place where but an instant previous he had sat, a fearsome
figure, erect and rigid as a sphinx.

What little moonlight there was, only served to show a few rising
bubbles, marking the spot where the unfortunate man had sunk with his
much-loved burden. As the widening circles fled farther and farther out,
the tide drifted the boat away, and the sp