ed in puzzled surprise.

"I have come to tell you that he knows and has worked himself into a
murderous fury."

"I don't understand." But his pretense of ignorance was too shallow not
to be seen through immediately.

"You understand perfectly," she declared. "Moreover, you recognize your
danger. It is useless to try to deceive me--an understanding between us
might work to our mutual advantage."

He imagined that he perceived the sinister import of her suggestion. An
understanding between them--that could mean only one thing. She had come
to blackmail him.

"What sort of an understanding?" he asked experimentally.

She bent forward, thrusting her head directly underneath the overhanging
lamp, revealing a face not untouched by care and suffering. He guessed
her age at twenty-four, but the set earnestness of her expression made
her seem close to thirty. She still possessed a certain girlishness, but
it was marked and marred by an unpleasant maturity, as if she had
arrived too young at a woman's understanding of the world. With physical
beauty she was amply endowed; nor had it been hardened and coarsened
beyond power to allure. There was no visible imperfection to detract
from its charm; but, gazing on her, Whitmore felt something lacking,
something spiritual, imponderable, yet immediately detected and missed.
And this impression was heightened when she spoke.

"You are interested in George Collins and so am I," she said, and
paused.

"And you've come to plead for him?" His manner signified that her errand
was useless.

"Plead for him!" she echoed, a faint smile hovering about her lips. "Why
should I plead for him with you? I came to tell you that he knows--and
has bought a pistol."

"So he knows that I have learned of his conduct!" He studied the woman
as if trying to read her inmost thoughts. "Does he suppose that by
sending you with threats he can prevent me from telling--from
telling--her?"

"He didn't send me," she retorted quickly. "I came without his
knowledge. Nor do I care about what you have discovered! The point is
that he has discovered that you have been urging his wife to divorce
him. He accuses you of trying to disrupt his home. He is aware that you
have been in correspondence with his wife and intends to intercept your
next letter."

Whitmore's brow clouded. "Why did you come to tell me this?"

"For purely personal reasons."

"And who are you, madam?"

"I am----" She hesitated, as if afr