s you know, was stolen, and as you have failed to
recover it, and I to get any reply from the chief to whom I forwarded my
protest, to-morrow will without doubt see it placed upon the finger of
the bronze hand. The result you know. Fantastic as this may strike you,
it is the dreadful truth."

Love, had I ever felt this holy passion for her, had no longer a place
in my breast; but awe, terror and commiseration for her, for him, and
also perhaps for myself, were still active passions within me, and at
this decided statement of the case, I laughed in the excitement of the
moment, and the relief I felt at knowing just what there was to dread in
the adventure.

"Absurd!" I cried. "With Madame's address in my mind and the Baltimore
police at my command, this man is as safe from assault as you or I are.
Give me five minutes' talk with Chief----"

Her hand on my arm stopped me; the look in her eye made me dumb.

"What could you do without _me?_" she said; "and my evidence you cannot
have. For what would give it weight can never pass my lips. The lives
that have fallen with my connivance stand between me and confession. I
do not wish to subject myself to the law."

This placed her in another light before me, and I started back.

"You have----" I stammered.

"Placed that ring three times on the hand in Dr. Merriam's office."

"And each time?"

"A man somewhere in this nation has died suddenly. I do not know by what
means or by whose hand, but he died."

This beautiful creature guilty of---- I tried not to show my horror.

"It is, then, a question of choice between you and him?" said I. "Either
you or he must perish. Both cannot be saved."

She recoiled, turning very pale, and for several minutes stood surveying
me with a fixed gaze as if overcome by an idea which threw so immense
a responsibility upon her. As she stood thus, I seemed not only to look
into her nature, but her life. I saw the fanaticism that that had
once held every good impulse in check, the mistaken devotion, the
unreason-ing hatred, and, underneath all, a spirit of truth and
rectitude which brightened and brightened as I watched her, till it
dominated every evil passion and made her next words come easily, and
with a natural burst of conviction which showed the innate generosity of
her soul.

"You have shown me my duty, sir. There can be no question as to where
the choice should fall, I am not worth one hair of his noble head. Save
him, sir; I wi