that the torn and
ghastly face and head emerged for a second as though to look at them.
Then it sank again.

"The brave dog holds him well--ha, ha, ha! He cannot catch me now--ha,
ha, ha! Nor you, Judas, who sold me. Judas! Judas! Judas!" and,
turning, she fled with the speed of the wind.

Mr. Fraser had but just come down, and was walking in his garden, when
he saw this dreadful figure come flying towards him with streaming
hair.

"_Betrayed_," she cried, in a voice which rang like the wail of a lost
soul, and fell on her face at his feet.

When she came back to life they found that she was mad.

CHAPTER LIX

The news of George Caresfoot's tragic death was soon common property,
and following as it did so hard upon his marriage, which now was
becoming known, and within a few hours of the destruction of his house
by fire, it caused no little excitement. It cannot be said that the
general feeling was one of very great regret; it was not. George
Caresfoot had commanded deference as a rich man, but he certainly had
not won affection. Still his fate excited general interest and
sympathy, though some people were louder in their regrets over the
death of such a plucky dog as Aleck, than over that of the man he
killed, but then these had a personal dislike of George. When,
however, it came to be rumoured that the dog had attacked George
because George had struck the dog's mistress, general sympathy veered
decidedly towards the dog. By-and-by, as some of the true facts of the
case came out, namely, that Angela Caresfoot had gone mad, that her
lover, who was supposed to be dead, had been seen in Rewtham on the
evening of the wedding, that the news of Mr. Heigham's death had been
concocted to bring about the marriage, and last, but not least, that
the Isleworth estates had passed into the possession of Philip
Caresfoot, public opinion grew very excited, and the dog Aleck was
well spoken of.

When Sir John Bellamy stepped out on the platform at Roxham on his
return from London that day, his practised eye saw at once that
something unusual had occurred. A group of county magistrates
returning from quarter sessions were talking excitedly together whilst
waiting for their train. He knew them all well, but at first they
seemed inclined to let him pass without speaking to him. Presently,
however, one of them turned, and spoke to him.

"Have you heard about this, Bellamy?"

"No; what?"

"Ge