herself and a possible
interference. Her arm, still stiffly pressed to her side, impeded her
fumbling efforts to open the box. Presently, however, the cover yielded.

He measured the chances of intervention, and abandoned the hope. His
brain hummed with a thousand conjectures, a thousand questions centering
upon her obvious and preposterous purpose. Suddenly, as her fingers
trembled among the tablets, his thoughts steadied and his stratagem
was formed.

"What do you want with my tonic?" he asked coolly.

"Tonic? I--I thought--"

"You thought it was the poison. Well, you've got the wrong box. The
poison box is in the drawer."

"In the drawer," she repeated. She spoke in the mechanical voice of one
desperately intent upon holding the mind to some vital project. Her
nerveless hands fumbled at the side of the desk.

He crossed quickly, caught up the box which she had just relinquished,
and dropped it into his pocket.

"Oh!" she moaned, and stared at him with stricken and accusing eyes.
"Then it _was_ the poison!"

"Yes."

"Give it back to me!" she implored, like a bereft child. "Oh, give it to
me!"

"Why do you want to kill yourself?"

She looked at him in dumb despair.

"How did you get here?" he demanded.

"Your fire escape."

"And to that from the garden wall, I suppose? So _you_ were Ely Crouch's
companion," he cried with a changed voice.

"Don't," she shuddered, throwing her right arm over her face.

"I beg your pardon," he said gently. "Take a swallow of this water.
What's the matter with your arm? Are you hurt?"

"No." Her eyes would not meet his. They were fixed obstinately upon the
pocket into which he had dropped the poison.

"It's incredible!" he burst out. "You with your youth and loveliness!
With everything that makes life sweet for yourself and others. What
madness--" He broke off and his voice softened into persuasion. "We were
almost friends, once. Can't I--won't you let me help? Don't you think
you can trust me?"

She raised her eyes to his, and he read in them hopeless terror. "Yes, I
could trust you. But there is only one help for me now. And you've taken
it from me."

"Who can tell? You've been badly frightened," he said in as soothing a
tone as he could command. "Try to believe that no harm can come to you
here, and that I--I would give the blood of my heart to save you from
harm or danger. You said you could trust me. What was your errand with
Ely Crouch?"

"Money."

"Mo