a rich man--a cad. But that's her affair. She thinks I'm a
bad lot, and put away under the turf, and she's going to live her life
comfortably like other people, I suppose. Old Dundas was always keen on
Ormsby. When she's married--and settled down--then you must tell her the
truth--that I didn't alter those checks, that I wasn't such a cheat, nor
a coward either. Don't let her think I died a skunk who wanted to be shot
to avoid the consequences of a forgery. Yes, you'll have to tell her
that, father--you'll have to tell her--"

The words came out with difficulty. Dick, who was standing on the
hearthrug, put out his hand blindly for support. It rested on a table for
a moment, but only for a moment. His lips parted, and his eyes closed.
Ere the rector could rush to his aid, he slipped to the floor in a faint.
Emotion, in his present weak state, was too much for him. He had
overestimated his strength.

"Dick--my boy!--my boy!" cried the father, raising him tenderly in his
arms. "He'll die--he'll die after all!"

The study door opened suddenly. Mary in her nightdress, with her hair
about her shoulders, and her eyes staring, entered the room, barefooted.

"I heard his voice, John--I heard his voice!" she cried, in shrill fear.

"Mary! Help, help! He's here--Dick--alive! He's fainted!"

The table stood between her and the dark form in the shadow on the floor.
She advanced slowly.

"Dick--not dead!" she screamed.

Her cry rang through the house and awakened everybody. Netty heard the
words upstairs, and sat up in bed, trembling. The servants heard them,
and began to dress hurriedly.

Dick was lifted by his father from the floor to the couch, and the
conscience-stricken mother looked on with drawn, white face. Love
conquered her fear, and she put her arms about him and kissed him; but,
when he opened his eyes, she drew away out of sight, fearing reproach.
His first words might be bitter denunciation.

"He knows all; he understands," whispered the rector.

The study door stood open, and in another moment they became conscious of
the half-clad figure of Jane, the housekeeper, looking in.

"Mr. Dick!" she screamed. "Mr. Dick! Not dead!" She turned and rushed
upstairs to Netty's room.

She found Netty in a panic, pale and trembling.

"What has happened?"

"Mr. Dick--he's alive! alive! He's come home."

"He'll be arrested," was Netty's only thought, and she thrust Jane out of
the room, telling her to hold her tongu