her seat by the fire. "I can tell you
the contents," she said coolly, "it is supposed to be written by me to
Noel and makes an appointment to meet him at the blue door on the night
of Hubert's death in order to elope."

"Agnes, you never wrote such a letter," cried Garvington, jumping up
with a furious red face.

His sister did not answer for a moment. She had taken the letter just
written to Jarwin by Garvington and was comparing it with that which
Miss Greeby had extorted from Silver. "No," she said in a strange voice
and becoming white, "I never wrote such a letter; but I should be glad
to know why you did."

"I did?" Garvington retreated and his face became as white as that of
the woman who confronted him, "what the devil do you mean?"

"I always knew that you were clever at imitating handwriting, Freddy,"
said Agnes, while the two letters shook in her grasp, "we used to make a
joke of it, I remember. But it was no joke when you altered that check
Hubert gave you, and none when you imitated his signature to that
mortgage about which he told me."

"I never--I never!" stammered the detected little scoundrel, holding on
to a chair for support. "I never--"

"Spare me these lies," interrupted his sister scornfully, "Hubert showed
the mortgage, when it came into his possession, to me. He admitted that
his signature was legal to spare you, and also, for my sake, hushed up
the affair of the check. He warned you against playing with fire,
Freddy, and now you have done so again, to bring about his death."

"It's a damned lie."

"It's a damned truth," retorted Agnes fiercely. "I got you to write the
letter to Mr. Jarwin so that I might compare the signature to the one in
the forged letter. Agnes Pine in one and Agnes Pine in the other, both
with the same twists and twirls--very, very like my signature and yet
with a difference that I alone can detect. The postscript about the
motor I asked you to write because the word occurs in the forged letter.
Motor and motor--both the same."

"It's a lie," denied Garvington again. "I have not imitated your
handwriting in the letter to Jarwin."

"You unconsciously imitated the signature, and you have written the word
motor the same in both letters," said Agnes decisively. "I suddenly
thought of your talent for writing like other people when Clara Greeby
asked me to-day if I could guess who had forged the letter. I laid a
trap for you and you have fallen into it. And you"--she