rden. It was a
stealthy figure and the man evidently did not want to be seen. As he
caught sight of Mary he stopped. It was too dark to distinguish anything
but his outline.

"Beatrice," the man said in a tone of deep relief. "Thank God, I have
come in time."

Mary did not know whether to be pleased or alarmed. Evidently this man
was some friend of Beatrice who had obtained an inkling of her danger
and had come to save her. On the whole it seemed to Mary that she had an
ally here.

"I am afraid you are mistaken," she whispered. "I am not Beatrice
Richford. But I am doing my best for the young lady all the same. She
is----"

"Don't say that she is in the house?" the man said in a muffled tone.

"Alas, that I can say nothing else," Mary replied. "I was just too late.
Mrs. Richford had just entered the doorway as I came up. If you will
tell me your name----"

"Perhaps I had better," the stranger said after a minute's hesitation.
"I am Mark Ventmore; perhaps you have heard of me."

Mary gave a little sigh of relief. She knew all about Mark Ventmore.
Here indeed was a man who would be ready to help her. She drew a little
nearer to him.

"And I am Mary Sartoris," she said. "If you have heard of me----"

"Oh, yes, you are the sister of that--I mean Carl Sartoris is your
brother. But surely you are altogether innocent of the--the strange
things that----"

"I am innocent of everything," said Mary passionately. "I have wasted my
life clinging to a man in the faint hope of bringing him back to truth
and honour again. I am beginning to see now that I am having my trouble
for my pains, Mr. Ventmore. Suffice it for the present to say that Mrs.
Richford stands in great peril."

"Oh, I know that," Ventmore said hoarsely. "I got that information from
Bentwood, the scoundrel! At the instigation of Inspector Field, who has
pretty well posted me on recent doings, I have been following that
rascal pretty well all day. We won't say anything about Berrington, who
I understand is more or less of a prisoner in your brother's house,
because Berrington is the kind of man who can take care of himself. But
Beatrice is in peril--Bentwood told me that. The fellow's brains are in
a state of muddle so I could not get the truth from him. It was
something about a case of diamonds."

"Yes, yes," Mary said. "The diamonds that Mr. Richford gave his wife for
a wedding present. Mr. Richford has got himself into severe trouble."

"Richford is