no fault of his own,
he kept repeating to himself, hurrying along with a burden on his back,
crouching, fearing observation, fearing detection. That burden was
almost intolerable. He had been trying to distract his thoughts and seek
some cold comfort by making calculations based upon the letter he had
received from Pateley, but all the time, behind it lay ice-cold and
immovable the thought of the price at which Pateley's co-operation had
been bought, of the moment of reckoning with Rendel that must come when
the sands should have run out their appointed time. So much had he
suffered, so much had he been dominated by this thought, that when the
door opened and Rendel finally came in, the moment brought a sort of
relief. Rendel, on the other hand, when he saw Sir William looking so
old, so white and feeble, suddenly felt his purpose arrested. It was
impossible, surely, that this old man, with the worn, handsome face and
pathetically anxious expression, could have had a hand in a diabolical
machination, and the thought that it was unlikely came to him with a
gleam of comfort. Then as quick as lightning came a reaction of
wonderment as to what hypothesis was to take the place of this one. At
any rate, there was only one thing to be done: to tell Gore the story
without a moment's further delay.

"Good morning, Sir William," he said. "I am sorry to hear you are not
well this morning."

"Not very," Gore said, trying to speak calmly, and involuntarily looking
at the newspaper in Rendel's hand.

"I hear you were asking for the _Arbiter_," Rendel said.

"Yes, I should like to see it," Gore replied, "when you have done with
it."

"I want you to see it," Rendel said. "There is something in it which
matters a great deal." Gore felt a sudden grip at his heart. He said
nothing. "Here it is," said Rendel, and he handed him the paper, folded
so as to show the startling headings in big letters and the rough
facsimile of the map. Gore looked at it. The whole thing swam before his
eyes; he held it for a moment, trying desperately to think what he had
better say, but he could find no anchorage anywhere.

"That is very surprising," he said finally. "As far as I can see,
it's--it's a partition of Africa between England and Germany? Is that
it? I can't see very well this morning."

"That is it," said Rendel.

"Yes, that is very important," Gore said, leaning back and letting the
paper slide from his grasp. "Most important," and he wa