wing room--the one we
call 'Mr. Smith's'--to turn on the lights, and then those hateful
creatures will think----". She hesitated, and the colour sprang to her
cheeks.

"That Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Smith have gone to their room," the man
finished her sentence. His eyes beamed love and gratitude, a glorious
reward. "You're wonderful! You forget nothing that can help. Do you know,
your trust, your faith in me, in spite of appearances, are the best
things that have come into my life? You call those fellows 'hateful
creatures,' because they're my enemies. Yet, for all you know, _they_
may be injured innocents and I the 'hateful' one. This may be my way
of getting into a rich old woman's house to steal her jewels and
money--making you a cat's paw."

"Don't!" Annesley cut him short. "I can't bear to hear you say such
things. I trust you because--surely a woman can tell by instinct which
men to trust. I don't need proof."

"By Jove!" he exclaimed, his eyes fixed upon her face. "You are the kind
of girl whose faith could turn Lucifer back from devil into archangel.
I--you're a million times too good for me. I didn't even _want_ to meet a
white saint like you. But now I have met you, nothing on earth is going
to make me give you up, if you'll stand by me. I'm unworthy, and I don't
expect to be much better. But there's one thing: I can give you a gayer
life than here. Perhaps I can even make you happy, if you don't ask for
a saint to match yourself. You shall have my love and worship, and I'll
be true as steel----"

"Oh, listen!" Annesley broke in. "Don't you hear a sound?"

"Yes," he said. "A door creaked somewhere."

"Mrs. Ellsworth's bedroom door. What shall we do? There's just the short
passage at the back, and then she'll be at the baize door that opens
into the front corridor. Quick! You, not I, must go upstairs--to that
second-floor front room I spoke of. Hurry! Before she gets to the swing
door----"

Without a word he obeyed, remembering his hat, which he had laid on the
table. One step took him out of the lighted dining room into the dimness
beyond. Another step and he was on the stairs. There, for the moment at
least, he was safe from detection; for the staircase faced the front
door, and Mrs. Ellsworth must approach from the back. She would come to
the door of the dining room, and, expecting only the girl, would not
think of spying at the foot of the stairs.

Besides, there was no light in the corridor except tha