lized that they would be useful to my plan. They mean
less to me now that my purpose has been achieved, but since they are
mine and have been wrested from me by fraud I claim them--if only to
trample them under my feet, if I choose.

"I realized that the name would carry me into the very inner circle of
the man I was after, the man who had murdered Dad, and the money would
help when I could exercise unlimited control of it. That was the only
reason I consented to go to New York, and my ultimate purpose never
wavered.

"I had no detailed plan, but I meant to keep Tia Juana and the fact
that I possessed the Lost Souls' Pool under cover until I had come into
my full inheritance, when I would return and fight the man to the
finish. Mr. North never knew that Tia Juana and Jose accompanied us to
New York, although he did complain of my frequent disappearances en
route, I remember."

Mason North sputtered.

"So do I! But why did you not tell me all, my dear? I might have
helped you----"

"And taken the whole thing out of my hands?" Willa shook her head,
still smiling. "The man was my meat, Mr. North! Vengeance may be the
Lord's, but it was sweet to me, too, and I meant to taste it to the
last morsel!

"The man was one of those who were still searching for the Lost Souls'
Pool. After our departure he possessed himself by violence of the map
which Tia Juana had only partly destroyed, located the Pool, learned of
its new owner and started out to find her. He knew that I was her one
friend, and suspected that I was back of the purchase. Before
following me to New York, therefore, he made a journey West, of which
I'll tell you more later, or rather Mr. Thode will.

"When he did finally appear in New York, he tried by every means in his
power to force me to a confession of my knowledge of Tia Juana's
whereabouts; he spied upon me and I removed her to new quarters just in
time. He flattered and cajoled me, and, when that failed, resorted to
vague threats.

"Then Tia Juana disappeared. She vanished from the home I had found
for her, leaving no trace, and I feared that the man had abducted her,
to coerce her into making the Pool over to him, until I met him outside
the house from which she had gone. He accused me of having spirited
her away to keep her out of his reach and demanded that I produce her
in three days, or he would strip me of my position and name and
inheritance, seeing me driven forth as an impost