look out of
my mind!"

"But perhaps he couldn't pull up," Bella defended him desperately, as if
she would not believe the truth she dreaded.

"There were other ways open. He could have gone at the hedge a yard or
two on one side; he could have spoiled the chestnut's take-off and made
him jump short. It might have brought him down--the hurdle was firm in
the ground--but that would have been better than riding over a fallen
man!"

"Are you sure he did nothing?"

"I wish I were not! The thing's horrible! Gladwyne must have seen that
he'd come down on Lisle or the struggling bay--he could have prevented
it--he didn't try."

Bella shivered. Her brother was right: it was almost beyond contemplation.
But that was only half of the matter.

"He must have had a reason," she argued harshly.

"Yes; one doesn't ride over a man in cold-blood for nothing. I think he
had some cause for being afraid of Lisle; several things I remember now
point to it. His chance came suddenly--nobody could have arranged it--he
only remembered that Lisle with his brains crushed out could do him no
harm."

The girl recognized that Jim had guessed correctly. When she had gone to
Lisle for help, he had allowed her to understand that he could compel
Gladwyne's compliance with his request, which was significant. Still,
convinced as she was, she would not openly acquiesce in her brother's
theory.

"Jim," she protested, "if he'd ridden at the hedge or made the chestnut
jump short, he might have broken his own neck. He must have realized
it--it would make him hesitate."

The lad laughed scornfully.

"It's quite possible, but is that any excuse? Would Nasmyth or Lisle or
Batley have shirked a risk that would mean the saving of the other
fellow? Supposing your idea's right--though it isn't--it only shows the
man as a disgusting coward."

There was no gainsaying this; and Bella was crushed and humiliated. She
had already seen Gladwyne's weakness, and after the choice she had been
compelled to make between him and her brother, she had tried to drive all
thought of him out of her mind. It had been difficult; he was fascinating
in many ways and she had set her heart upon his capture. Now she had done
with him; after the morning's revelation she shrank from him with
positive horror. Jim seemed to guess this.

"I'm sorry, Bella," he said gently. "But the fellow's impossible."

She laid her hand upon his arm.

"Jim," she replied, "we have both been m