xcuses to justify or explain his marriage. He now clearly
foresaw, foreheard the comment, the surprise, the opposition of his
family.

He pulled himself up short with a word of derision at the length to
which he had permitted his mind to run. "All this for the future. The
immediate question is, Can she be freed from her bonds?"

He was deep in his book when Kate entered with excited greeting.
"Morton, do you know that those women have been locked in their rooms
all day for fear of Clarke and Pratt? Well, they were! Clarke has gone
stark mad with jealousy, and even that besotted mother was afraid of
him, and admits it. They would be there in that house prisoners this
minute only for you."

"Don't lay your wreath on my head; keep it for Lambert. Really, Kate,
he was magnificent. Little as he is, he towered. I had no doubt of his
willingness and ability to kill either Pratt or Clarke; and I don't
think they questioned the integrity of his promise."

Kate's mind took a new turn. "She's broken with Clarke, thank Heaven!
But the mother clings to him in spite of all."

"I am about to suggest to Mrs. Lambert that she go West with her
husband, leaving the girl in your care for a little while."

"I wish they would!"

"She must be freed from even her mother's presence for a while--that
is, if they really want to have her cured of her trances."

"I see," said Kate, thoughtfully. "The mother is so closely associated
with all that tapping."

"Precisely. I wish, when Mrs. Lambert is rested, you would ask her to
let me see her here. I want to talk these matters over with her in
private."

"They're both lying down, but I'll tell her when she rises. Don't do
anything rash," she added, with a reaction towards caution which
amused him.

"You may trust me."

She came back a few steps, and hesitatingly said. "For, after all,
Morton, the girl _is_ abnormal."

"So are we all--under abnormal conditions. I am going to see if I
can't so change the current of her thought that she will forget her
besetments--and you must help me."

"She's shockingly pretty and it will be very dangerous having her
beneath your very roof." She gave a warning backward look. "How dare
you permit it?"

"I am a very brave man," he replied, with a smile, and an inflection
that puzzled her.

XX

THE MOTHER'S FAITH

Mrs. Lambert entered timidly, her gentle face sadder and its lip-line
firmer than he had ever seen it. It was evident that the