ou on my own responsibility," Field said curtly. "If I
have made any mistake, then you can bring an action for illegal
detention later on. Colonel Berrington, we are wasting time here. Had we
not better get on with our search?"

Berrington nodded approval. There was an exulting gleam in his eyes that
betokened the discovery of something out of the common. Mary crossed the
room rapidly and threw herself in an utter abandonment of grief at her
brother's feet.

"Oh, why don't you tell them everything?" she cried. "Why don't you tell
the whole truth and save yourself? I have friends here, more than one,
who care for me, and who for my sake would do much to save you from the
shame and humiliation that lie before you. I know much, but I do not
know all. For the sake of the old name----"

"Burn the old name," Sartoris said. "What has it done for me? You have
been a good sister to me, but your attentions have been a little
embarrassing sometimes. And if you had hoped to change me, you had your
trouble for your pains. You may put me on the rack and torture me, but
not one word do I say."

"It seems so hard, so very hard," Mary moaned. "And when I look back to
the time----"

"Oh, never mind looking back to any time," Sartoris muttered. "The
game's up, I tell you. I have been beaten, and there's an end of it. I
should play the same hand again if I had the chance, so make no mistake
about that. Wheel me as far as the dining-room."

"It will not be of the slightest use," Berrington said in a cold, clear
voice. "I know that you would blow the whole lot of us to Eternity if
you got the chance, as a kind of revenge for our victory, but I have put
an end to that. You will find all the wires disconnected from your
battery. After that you are quite free to go into the dining-room."

Sartoris grinned and displayed his teeth in an evil smile. Heaven only
knows what new form of villainy he was plotting. And he would cheerfully
have blown up the house and destroyed everybody there, including
himself, if he had had the opportunity to complete his revenge.

"We are wasting time," Field said. "Take all the prisoners away, except
Dr. Bentwood. I have very good reasons for asking him to remain."

Bentwood smiled in a mean and sinister way. He had tried to hide himself
in a corner of the room. There was something so cringing and fawning
about the fellow that Berrington longed to kick him. Sartoris spoke in a
waspish whisper:

"So the la