re as I came up the
drive," he answered doggedly. "Soon afterward, you slipped as we went
down the steps into the garden and in clutching me your hand caught and
pulled the pocket open. It was a deep pocket and the papers could not
have fallen out."

"So you concluded that I had stolen them!" Clare said in a cold, strained
voice, though her face flushed crimson.

"What else could I think?"

Then, though she tried to hide the breakdown, Clare's nerve gave way. She
had forced the crisis in order to clear herself, but saw that she could
not do so. Dick's statement was convincing; the papers had been stolen
while he was in their house, and she had a horrible suspicion that her
father was the thief. It came with a shock, though she had already been
tormented by a vague fear of the truth that she had resolutely refused to
face. She remembered the men who were at the house on the eventful night.
They were somewhat dissipated young sportsmen and not remarkable for
intelligence. None of them was likely to take part in such a plot.

"You must understand what a serious thing you are saying," she faltered,
trying to doubt him and finding that she could not.

"I do," he said, regarding her with gravely pitiful eyes. "Still, you
rather forced it out of me. Perhaps this is a weak excuse, because I had
meant to forget the matter."

"But didn't you want to clear yourself and get taken back?"

"No; I knew it was too late. I'd shown I couldn't be trusted with an
important job; and I'd made a fresh start here."

His answer touched the girl, and after a quick half-ashamed glance, she
thought she had misjudged him. It was not her physical charm that had
made him willing to condone her offense, for he showed none of the bold
admiration she had shrunk from in other men. Instead, he was
compassionate and, she imagined, anxious to save her pain.

She did not answer and turning her head, vacantly watched the shore slide
past. The mountains were growing blacker, trails of mist that looked like
gauze gathered in the ravines, and specks of light began to pierce the
gloom ahead. They marked Santa Brigida, and something must still be said
before the launch reached port. It was painful that Brandon should take
her guilt for granted, but she feared to declare her innocence.

"You were hurt when I passed you at Adexe," she remarked, without looking
at him. "You must, however, see that friendship between us is impossible
while you think me a th