e promise as before?"

Black related the incidents of his abduction. He raised his right hand
with a dramatic gesture as he concluded:

"As I have been a liar, this is gospel truth, s'help me. Whoever
killed that jumper--and I figure Shackleby knows--it wasn't me. The
night you fished me out of the river I said, 'Here's a man with sand
enough to stand right up to Shackleby,' and I'll make a deal with you."

"The terms?" said Geoffrey.

"Rather better than before. On your part, a smart lawyer to take my
case if Shackleby sets the police on me. On mine--with you behind me,
I can tell a story that will bring two Companies down on Shackleby.
What brought me to the scratch now was, that I read in _The Colonist_
that you'd be through shortly, and I guessed Shackleby's insect,
Leslie, would have another shot at you. I'm open to take my chances of
hanging to get even with them."

The mingled fear and hatred in the speaker's face was certainly
genuine, and Geoffrey said briefly: "If I thought you guilty, I'd slip
irons on to you. As it is, I'm willing to close that deal. You'll
have to take my word and lie quiet, until you're wanted, where I hide
you."

"I guess that is good enough for me," Black declared exultantly.

CHAPTER XXV

MILLICENT'S REVOLT

"I really feel mean over it, and, of course, I will pay you back, but
unless I get the money to meet the call, I shall have to sacrifice the
stock," said Henry Leslie, glancing furtively at his wife across the
breakfast-table.

Leslie was seldom at his best in the morning, but he seemed unusually
nervous, and the coffee-cup shook in his fingers as he raised it.

"It's the last I'll ask you for," he continued, "and if you press him,
Thurston will sign the check. He said he was coming, did he not?"

"Yes," was the answer. "Here is his note. It must be the last, Harry,
for I have overdrawn my allowance already. You will notice that
Geoffrey hesitates, and will not sign the check without seeing me. He
will be here on Thursday."

Leslie took the letter with an eagerness which did not escape his wife,
while, as the sum in question was small, she could not quite understand
the satisfaction in his face. It had grown soddened and coarse of
late, and there were times when she looked upon her husband with
positive disgust. Still, she had, in spite of occasional disputes,
resumed her efforts to play the part of a dutiful wife, and it was
easier to pay her h