el thinks he has any hold on me, or that he can keep me on
the rack as he did Hugh, he'll find he has made the biggest mistake
of his life. It is nothing but a blackmailing scheme, and I've more
than half a mind to sift the whole matter to the bottom and land
that beggarly impostor where he belongs."

"I hardly know just what to advise under the circumstances," Mr.
Whitney answered, quietly, "for I, naturally, have some personal
feeling in this matter, and I am forced to believe, Mr. Mainwaring,
that there is something back of all this which neither you nor I
would care to have given publicity. But, laying aside that
consideration, I am of the opinion that it might not be to your
interest to push this matter too closely."

"On what grounds, sir, do you base your opinion?" Mr. Mainwaring
demanded.

The attorney's reply, however, was lost upon Scott, whose attention
had been suddenly arrested by the imprint of a peculiar signature
across one corner of the blotter upon which he was drying his work,
now completed. Instantly, oblivious to everything else, he
carefully examined the blotter. It was a large one, fastened to
the top of the desk, and had been in use but a comparatively short
time. It bore traces both of Hugh Mainwaring's writing and of
his own, but this name, standing out boldly on one corner, was
utterly unlike either. Nor did it resemble any of the signatures
attached to the will on that memorable day when the desk with its
paraphernalia had been last used.

Considerably perplexed, Scott suddenly recalled a small pocket
mirror which he had seen in the desk. This he speedily found, and,
having placed it at the right angle, leaned over to get a view of
the name as it had been originally written. As he did so, he
caught sight of some faint lines above the signature which he had
not observed, but which were plainly visible in the mirror. It was
well for the secretary that he was alone, for, as he read the
signature with the words outlined above, he was spellbound. For a
moment he seemed almost paralyzed, unable to move. His brain
whirled, and, when he at last sank back in his chair, his face was
blanched and he felt giddy and faint from the discovery which he
had made. Gradually he became conscious of his surroundings. Again
he heard, as in a dream, the conversation in the adjoining room.
The attorney was speaking.

"I do not at present feel at liberty to give the source of my
information, but