is only one proper course for you to
pursue."

"What is it?"

"Return to New York with me in the next steamer, and place yourself once
more under the care of my father, whose protection you never ought to
have left."

"'Protection'!" repeated Florence, with bitter emphasis. "What
protection did he give me?"

"All that was required."

"'All that was required'? You know very well that you and he had
conspired to put me in a mad-house if I would not agree to enrich you by
giving you my hand."

"That is not true," said Orton Campbell, rather confused.

"'Not true'? He distinctly threatened to do it as a means of terrifying
me into compliance with his and your wishes. It was not until then that
I decided to leave your house and seek some place of refuge until time
and the law should set me completely free from your family and their
machinations."

"It is evident, Miss Douglas, that you are under a delusion. Your way of
talking is sufficient to show that your mind is affected. Any good
physician would need no other proof."

Florence Douglas looked at him with distrust. Was this a threat, or how
should she interpret it?

"It is convenient, Mr. Orton Campbell," she retorted with spirit, "to
charge with madness those who oppose us. At home I felt afraid of your
threats: here I am secure."

He thought that perhaps he had gone too far, since the young lady was
independent of him, and it was not certain that he could gain possession
of her.

"Miss Douglas," he said, "I have already told you that you have taken an
unwise step. There is one way to remedy it, and I hope I may be able to
induce you to take it. Let me assure you that I have called upon you as
a friend, as a warm friend, as one who seeks to be something more than a
friend."

"Well, sir?"

"Let me urge you to consent to an immediate marriage with me, and to
accompany me home on the next steamer. My father will receive you as a
daughter, and never allude to your flight."

"I suppose I ought to thank you for your disinterested proposal, Mr.
Campbell, but I can only tell you that you ask what is entirely out of
the question. This is final. Allow me to wish you good-morning."

"But, Miss Douglas--"

She did not turn back nor heed these last words, and Orton Campbell
found himself alone.

He rose slowly from his seat, and an evil look came into his eyes. "She
has not done with me yet," he muttered as he left the house.

CHAPTER XXIII.

A SEC