h Mr. Belford?"

"Yes--of course I have. He--he is to be my husband----"

"On Wednesday."

"Yes. How did you know it?"

Instead of replying he turned to a drawer and drew forth a long ribbon
of white paper. Holding it to the light, near the window, he began to
read the words printed in dots and lines upon it.

"Here is your own confession. Here are all the messages you sent me from
the parlor, when you broke your engagement with him----"

"Oh, Elmer! Did you save that? Destroy it--destroy it at once. If he
should find it, he would never forgive me."

"You need not fear. I shall not destroy it, and it shall never cause you
any trouble."

She had risen in her excitement, and stood upon her feet. Suddenly she
flushed a rosy red, and a strange light shone in her eyes. The sun had
sunk behind the hills, and it had grown dark. As the shadows gathered in
the room a strange, mystic light fell on the wall before her. A
picture--dim, ghostly, gigantic, and surpassingly beautiful--met her
astonished eyes. She gazed at it with a beating heart, awed into
silence by its mystery and its unearthly aspect. What was it? What did
it mean? By what magic art had he conjured up this vision? She stood
with parted lips gazing at it, while her bosom rose and fell with her
rapid, excited breathing. Suddenly she threw her arms above her head,
and with a cry fell back upon the chair.

"Oh, Elmer! My heart----"

He had been gazing absently out of the window at the fading twilight,
and hearing her cry of pain, he turned hastily and said:

"Alma, what is it? Are you----"

He caught sight of the picture on the wall. He understood it at once,
and went to the stereopticon that stood at the other end of the room and
opened it. The lamp was burning brightly, and he put it out and closed
the door. Then he drew out the glass slide, held it a moment to the
light to make sure that it was Alma's portrait, and then he kissed it
passionately, and shivered it into fragments upon the hearthstone.

She heard the breaking glass, and rose hastily and turned toward him.

"Elmer, that was cruel. Why did you destroy it?"

"Because it told too much."

"It was my picture?"

"Yes. I confess with shame that I stole it when you were asleep under
the influence of the gas I gave you. It happened to be in the lantern
when you came in."

"And so I saw it pictured on the wall?"

"Yes. In that way did it betray me. Forget it, Alma. Forget me. Forget
everyt