The election is with
yourself."

Mrs. Dinneford was too much stunned by all this to be able to come to
any conclusion. She seemed in the maze of a terrible dream, full of
appalling reality. To wait for twenty-four hours in this state of
uncertainty was more than her thoughts could endure. And yet she must
have time to think, and to get command of her mental resources.

"Will you be disengaged at five o'clock?" she asked.

"Yes."

"I will be here at five."

"Very well."

Mrs. Dinneford arose with a weary air.

"I shall want to hear from you very explicitly," she said. "If your
demand is anywhere in the range of reason and possibility, I may
meet it. If outside of that range, I shall of course reject it. It is
possible that you may not hold all the winning cards--in fact, I know
that you do not."

"I will be here at five," said Freeling.

"Very well. I shall be on time."

And they turned from each other, passing from the parlor by separate
doors.

CHAPTER XII.

_ONE_ morning, about two weeks later, Mr. Freeling did not make his
appearance at his place of business as usual. At ten o'clock a clerk
went to the hotel where he boarded to learn the cause of his absence. He
had not been there since the night before. His trunks and clothing were
all in their places, and nothing in the room indicated anything more
than an ordinary absence.

Twelve o'clock, and still Mr. Freeling had not come to the store. Two
or three notes were to be paid that day, and the managing-clerk began
to feel uneasy. The bank and check books were in a private drawer in the
fireproof of which Mr. Freeling had the key. So there was no means of
ascertaining the balances in bank.

At one o'clock it was thought best to break open the private drawer and
see how matters stood. Freeling kept three bank-accounts, and it was
found that on the day before he had so nearly checked out all the
balances that the aggregate on deposit was not over twenty dollars. In
looking back over these bank-accounts, it was seen that within a week he
had made deposits of over fifty thousand dollars, and that most of
the checks drawn against these deposits were in sums of five thousand
dollars each.

At three o'clock he was still absent. His notes went to protest, and on
the next day his city creditors took possession of his effects. One fact
soon became apparent--he had been paying the rogue's game on a pretty
liberal scale, having borrowed on his che