g out a ready hand. "Remember me? I
saw you at your place at Stanwick one day."

"The day I was arrested," said the young man. "I remember you."

Scanlon waved the hand, which the other had neglected to take, toward
his friend.

"This is Mr. Ashton-Kirk. You may have heard of him. He's interested in
this case."

The young artist made a weary gesture.

"That can be said of a great many people," he said. His face was white
and had a harassed look; his eyes shone feverishly. "I have been, to
speak frankly, plagued to death by their interest. It isn't a pleasant
thing to feel that almost every one is consumed with the desire to place
a brand of some sort upon a fellow creature."

Ashton-Kirk regarded him without resentment.

"I understand the feeling, I think," said he, quietly. "It comes from
the shock of the charge laid against you, and the depression of the
jail. But consider this," and the singular eyes held the young man
steadily; "if the truth is to come out in this matter, interest must be
taken by some one. If you are to be freed of this charge it will be very
likely, by placing the weight of it upon some one else."

A look of despair was in the hot eyes of the prisoner; his hands
clenched tightly.

"All his life," he said, as though speaking to himself, "all his life he
did evil; and now that he is dead, the evil continues." He pointed to a
bench at one side and added: "Will you sit down?" The two having seated
themselves, he sank down weakly upon the edge of the cot. "I've been in
poor shape since I came here," said he. "I can't sleep, and my nerves
are gone."

"That's bad," said Bat Scanlon. "Nothing wears a man out like loss of
sleep. Try to quit thinking of this affair; if you don't----"

"Quit thinking of it!" Young Burton laughed in a high pitched fashion
that was very disagreeable to hear. "Quit it? You might as well ask me
to stop the sun from coming up. I could do it just as easily."

There was a short silence; young Burton picked at the coverings of his
bed with nervous fingers; and then he resumed:

"They say that any good thing brought into the world remains; that good
can never be destroyed. I wonder if the same cannot be said of evil. He
is dead; and yet what he did is living after him."

"That is probably one of the things that will oppress mankind forever.
The persistence of evil is the thought behind many ancient religions.
Indeed, one might include modern creeds as well," added As