he other answered impatiently: 'I tell you, man, I was
mistaken. I took you for him. Now listen: Neither you nor I love the
fellow, and we each hold a trifle of power over the other. You can
refute my statement, if you like, and accuse me of attacking you. In
that case I may be imprisoned; but that won't keep you above water
long. If I am arrested for assault with intent to kill, you will soon
find yourself in the next cell, accused of the still more serious
crime of bigamy. On the other hand, if you let the matter rest as it
is, and let _him_ take his chances, I won't use those little documents
I hold, which prove conclusively that you married a second wife while
the first was living. Come, what do you say?'

"I remember their very words; not one syllable escaped me then, or has
drifted from my mind since. And I could have predicted what the next
words of my husband would be. I know his weakness so well, and I knew,
too, then, for the first time, that my vague suspicions had been too
true--that he had indeed been false to me, more than false.

"'I will do this,' said he, halting at every few words. 'If you will
give me back the money you won from me up there, and will give me up
those papers, we will not quarrel over this affair. We will let His
Majesty take the consequences of your act, if you choose. I like him
even less than I do you. But the money I must have.'

"The other replied: 'I'll do it.' Then the money was counted out and
the 'papers' changed hands.

"While they talked, I was seized with an unaccountable desire to see
the man I had once loved. I heard my maid moving in the next room, and
I arose and went to her. She was a quick-witted creature, and knew
just what to do. She made me put on a hat and veil, and throw a shawl
about me, and then bade me go down-stairs, while she knocked at the
door of the sick-room. When I heard it open I was to come up, and
while she made a pretense of offering her services, in case of need, I
could obtain, over her shoulder, a view of the occupants of the room.
Her ruse was successful. When I ascended the stairs, I obtained a full
view of the two men. I should know the dark face of the tall stranger
if I came upon it in Africa.

"To do myself justice, I never once thought of the wrong they were
doing their victim; never realized that it was my duty to denounce
them. Having seen the face of my husband I had but one idea, one
desire; to get away, anywhere, the farther the b