that at the
same second she would destroy both his love and career. She must wait,
and it would be hard to wait; but she must wait until she and Albee had
dug a deep pit. Then she would call him to her and he would have to
come. It was by thinking these thoughts that she managed to come into
court calm and cold as steel.

"What have you now to say why the judgment of the court should not be
pronounced upon you?"

The judge beckoned her and Wiley to his desk. O'Bannon was already
there, standing so close that her arm would have touched his if she had
not shrunk away. She trembled with hate. It was horrible to be so near
him. She heard his own breath unsteadily drawn. Across the space that
parted them waves of some tangible emotion leaped to and fro. She looked
up at him and found that he, with clenched hands and drawn brows, was
looking at her. So they remained.

"Your Honor," said Wiley in his smooth tones, "I would like to ask that
a fine rather than a prison sentence be imposed on this prisoner, not
only on account of her youth and previous good record, but because to a
woman of her sheltered upbringing a prison sentence is a more severe
punishment than the law contemplated."

"I entirely disagree with you, counselor," said the judge in a loud
ringing tone. "The feature that makes the court so reluctant ordinarily
to impose prison sentences is the subsequent difficulty in earning a
living. That consideration is entirely absent in the present case. On
the other hand, to impose a fine would be palpably ridiculous,
constituting for this defendant no punishment whatsoever. I sentence
this prisoner"--the judge paused and drew in his chin--"to not less than
three nor more than seven years in state's prison."

She heard Wiley passionately pleading with Judge Homans. A blue-coated
figure was now standing beside her. It was still incredible.

"This is your doing," she heard her own voice saying very softly to
O'Bannon.

To her surprise she saw that emotion, what emotion she did not know,
made it impossible for him to answer. His eyes stared at her out of a
face whiter than her own. It was his emotion that communicated her own
situation to her. His hand on the desk was shaking. She knew he could
not have done what she proceeded to do. She turned and walked with the
policeman to the iron-latticed passageway that led to jail.

As the door clanged behind her O'Bannon turned and walked out of court,
and getting into his