been seen together in Boston. I didn't want to, but I had to obey him.
Why, those checks--he could have put me in prison. My father would not
have helped me. You remember my father--he was ready to throw me out
anyway. He never could make allowances for a young fellow's fun.

"He had others dropping hints around. Trust him to handle a job like
that. He was your friend, and Mary's friend--your very best friend,
and all the time the tongues were wagging behind your back. Why, it
was the talk of the town. You and Beulah Twigg, together in Boston;
you and Beulah together at sea; you and Beulah--well, you know what a
story they would make of it in a little town like Freeport. Mary must
have heard the gossip about you; the women would tell her.

"But it didn't seem to have any effect. The two of you were as thick
as ever. We were laying bets in the tavern that you would be married
before you went to sea again. He didn't like that--the talk about your
wedding. But he wasn't beaten yet; he was just preparing his ground.
Oh, he was a slick devil!

"He came to me one day and said, 'Beasley, give me the key to the Old
Place--and keep your mouth shut and stay away from there.'

"Now you begin to understand? The Old Place--that tumble-down old ruin
of a house all alone out there on the cliffs. It belonged to my
father, you remember, but it hadn't been lived in for years. I had a
key because we young bloods used the place for card-playing, and high
jinks.

"I gave him the key. Why not? It was a small matter. He went off to
Boston--business trip, he said. I could make a good guess at the
nature of the business. Didn't I know his ways? But I wouldn't blab;
he owned me body and soul. I was afraid of him. His soft voice, his
slick ways, and what he could do to me if I didn't obey!

"He brought Beulah Twigg back with him from Boston. Now you
understand? Little Beulah--pretty face, empty head, too much heart.
He owned her body and soul, too. When folks wondered where she had run
off to, I could have told them. I knew how he'd played with her, on
the quiet, while he sparked Mary in the open--last time he was home.
You were home then, also. Remember, you left a day ahead of him, to
join your ship in New York? A China voyage, wasn't it? Well--Beulah
left the same day. Just disappeared. And poor old Twigg couldn't
understand it. You remember the old fool? Beulah was all the family
he had, and after sh