st possible modicum of interest. When I went to Queensland, I
went there because I wished to secure money for the child. I did
bitter wrong, and God is punishing me, but I sinned for her sake.... I
now repent of my sin, and repentance means----"

"What?" she asked, looking at him with round, dilated eyes.

"Restitution," he replied; "all the restitution that lies in my
power."

"You--you terrify me," said Mrs. Ogilvie; "what are you talking about?
Restitution! What have you to give back?"

"Listen, and I will explain. You knew, Mildred--oh, yes, you knew it
well enough--that I went to Australia on no honorable mission. You did
not care to inquire, you hid yourself behind a veil of pretended
ignorance; but you _knew_--yes, you did, and you dare not deny
it--that I went to Queensland to commit a crime. It would implicate
others if I were to explain things more fully. I will not implicate
others, I will stand alone now, in this bitter moment when the fruit
of my sin is brought home to me. I will bear the responsibility of my
own sin. I will not drag anybody else down in my fall, but it is
sufficient for you to know, Mildred, that the Lombard Deeps Mine as a
speculation is worthless."

"Worthless!" she cried, "impossible!"

"Worthless," he repeated.

"Then why, why did you send a cablegram to say the mine was full of
gold? Lord Grayleigh told me he had received such a message from you."

"I told a dastardly lie, which I am about to put straight."

"But, but," she began, her lips white, her eyes shining, "if you do
not explain away your lie (oh, Phil, it is such an ugly word), if you
do not explain it away, could not the company be floated?"

"It could, and the directors could reap a fortune by means of it. Do
you understand, Mildred, what that implies?"

"Do I understand?" she replied. "No, I was always a poor little woman
who had no head for figures."

"Nevertheless you will, I think, take it in when I explain. You are
not quite so stupid as you make yourself out. The directors and I
could make a fortune--it would be easy, for there is enough gold
in the mine to last for at least six months, and the public are
credulous, and can be taken in. We should make our fortunes out of the
widows and orphans, out of the savings of the poor clerks, and from
the clergyman's tiny stipend. We could sweep in their little earnings,
and aggrandize our own wealth and importance, and _lose our souls_.
Yes, Mildred, we could, b