the
stimulant, which Ogilvie drank off. The agony in his chest subsided by
degrees, and he was able to go into the dining-room and even to eat.
He had never before had such terrible and severe pain, and now he was
haunted by the memory of his father, who had died suddenly of acute
disease of the heart.

After dinner he went, as usual, to his club, where he met a friend
whom he liked. They chatted about many things, and the fears and
apprehensions of the puzzled man dropped gradually from him. It was
past midnight when Ogilvie returned home. He had now forgotten all
about the pain in his chest. It had completely passed away. He felt
as well and vigorous as ever. In the night, however, he slept badly,
had tiresome dreams, and was much haunted by the thought of his child.
If by any chance he were to die now! If, for instance, he died on his
way to Australia, he would leave Sibyl badly provided for. A good deal
of his private means had already been swallowed up by his own and his
wife's extravagant living, and what was left of it had been settled
absolutely on his wife at the time of their marriage. Although, of
course, this money at her mother's death would revert to Sibyl, he had
a presentiment, which he knew was founded on a firm basis, that Mrs.
Ogilvie might be careless, inconsiderate--not kind, in the true sense
of the word, to the little girl. If it came to be a tussle between
Sibyl's needs and her mother's fancied necessities, Ogilvie's
intuitions told him truly that Sibyl would go to the wall.

"I must do something better than that for my little daughter," thought
the man. "I will not go to Australia until I have decided that point.
If I go, I shall make terms, and it will be for Sibyl's sake."

But again that uncomfortable, tiresome conscience of his began to
speak; and that conscience told him that if he went to Australia for
the purpose of blinding the eyes of possible shareholders in London,
he would in reality be doing the very worst possible thing for his
child.

He tossed about between one temptation and another for the remainder
of the night, and arose in the morning unrefreshed. As he was
dressing, however, a thought came to him which he hailed as a possible
relief. Why not do the right thing right from the beginning; tell
Grayleigh that the proposed commission to visit Australia was
altogether distasteful to him; that he washed his hands of the great
new syndicate; that they might sweep in their gold