newspaper, read the despatch and handed it back in silence.

"Isn't that the very deuce!" he went on peevishly. "We've been trying
our utmost to keep it secret. Unless we're quick, there'll be a rush
of adventurers from all parts of the world before we can secure the
options. Happily the despatch is vague. They don't know all the
facts. If they did----" Lowering his voice and looking around
cautiously to make sure that the butler had left the room and no one
was listening, he continued: "Besides you know what I am to bring back.
It couldn't be entrusted to anyone else. Just think--a stone worth
nearly a million dollars! I hope no one will guess I have it in my
possession. It must be brought safe to New York. That's why it's so
important that I go at once. Even by catching the _Mauretania_
to-morrow, I can't reach Cape Town for a month, and every moment counts
now."

As Helen was still silent he glanced across the table at her for the
first time. Her pallor and the drooping lines about her mouth told him
something was wrong. Instantly concerned, he asked:

"What's the matter, dear?"

"I'm horribly nervous."

"What about?"

"This trip of yours, of course."

"You ought to be used to them by this time. This isn't the first time
I've had to leave you since our marriage."

"I didn't mind the other trips so much. When you went to Mexico and
Alaska, it didn't seem so far away. But this journey to South Africa
is different. You are running a terrible risk carrying that diamond.
I can't shake off a horrible feeling that something dreadful will
happen."

Surprised less at what she said than at her serious manner, he laid
down the newspaper, and, jumping up, went over to her. His wife sat
motionless, her lips trembling, her large eyes filled with tears. In
spite of a palpable effort at self-control, it was evident that she was
laboring under great nervous tension. Bending caressingly over her, he
said anxiously:

"Why Helen, old girl! What's the matter?"

She made no answer. Her head fell on his breast. For a moment she
could not speak. Her emotion seemed to choke her utterance, paralyze
her speech. He insisted:

"What is it, dearie?" he demanded.

"I'm so nervous about your going, I'm so afraid about your having the
diamond," she sobbed. Suddenly, as if unable longer to control
herself, she rose from the table and threw her arms around his neck.
Passionately she cried: "Oh, Kenneth, don