he had come
upon him abruptly, at the turn of the stairs, and for a moment she stood
silent, overcome by a chaos of emotions.

If she expected the door to open she was disappointed, for the trusty
simply withdrew half a dozen paces leaving the prisoner and his visitor
to face each other and converse through the narrow space between the
bars.

"I received your note," Beard broke the embarrassing silence, "and I
can't tell you how much it cheered me."

She advanced nearer the door, and extending a gloved hand through the
bars, permitted it to repose an instant in the prisoner's grateful palm.

"I had to come," she murmured, "although father went into a fury when I
told him."

"And you came to cheer me--to tell me you believe in me?"

Something far deeper than mere gratitude shone in his eyes, and was
reflected in the agitated countenance of the girl.

"I came to tell you that I broke my engagement to Lester Ward," she said
in quivering voice.

Cautiously Britz peered at the couple through the iron grating of his
cell. He noted the tremor which passed down Beard's form and the furtive
caress which he bestowed on the visitor's hand. At the same time the
girl lifted her veil, disclosing a finely molded face of flawless
features, with a skin of exquisite paleness, and flashing brown eyes
shaded by long, dark lashes. As she stood with fingers encircling the
bars that interposed between her and Beard, her beautiful face took on a
purposeful aspect, as of one suddenly possessed of a new and consuming
interest in life.

The news which she had brought the prisoner cheered him perceptibly. But
he regarded her as if even now he found it difficult to credit her with
the courage she must have displayed in discarding the man whom she had
promised to wed.

"How did it happen?" inquired Beard in a voice that betrayed his
bewildered state of mind.

"You must have known, your instinct must have told you that I accepted
him because of father's urging," she said. "Now that you are in trouble
I don't fear to tell you that I wanted you all the time. When I read of
your arrest I wanted to fly to you, to be near you, to sustain you. This
morning I told father of my intention to break the engagement. And, do
you know, he assented at once. But he went into a rage when I told him I
was coming here, although he seemed perfectly pleased to have me break
with Lester."

A person of duller intellect than Britz, from overhearing the
conv