beside him. "Arrest that man!" he said. "He
killed my watchman, George Norcross."

"Not so fast!" rapped out the Colonel, fixing the officer with steely
eyes. "Mr. Holman is under my protection. Ah, thank you, Wiley--here is
your money, Mr. Blount, with fifty dollars more for interest. And now I
will thank you for that stock."

"Do you set yourself up," demanded Blount with sudden bluster, "as being
above the law?"

"No, sir, I do not," replied the Colonel tartly. "But before we go any
further I must ask you to restore my stock. Your order is sufficient, if
the certificates are elsewhere----"

"Well--all right!" sighed Blount, and wrote out an order which Colonel
Huff gravely accepted. "And now," went on Blount, "I demand that you
step aside and allow Wiley Holman to be taken."

The Colonel's eyes narrowed, and he motioned the officer aside as he
laid his own hand on Wiley's shoulder.

"Every citizen of the state," he said with dignity, "has the authority
to arrest a fugitive--and Mr. Holman is my prisoner. Is that
satisfactory to you, Mr. Officer?"

"Why--why, yes," stammered the Constable and as the Colonel smiled
Blount forgot his studied repose. He had been deprived in one minute of
a block of stock that was worth a round million dollars and the sting of
his great loss maddened him.

"You may smile, sir," he burst out, "but as sure as there's a law I'll
put Wiley Holman in the Pen. And if you knew the truth, if you knew what
he has done; I wonder, now, if you would go to such lengths? You might
ask your wife how she has fared in your absence--or ask Virginia there!
Didn't he send her as his messenger, to make a fake payment that would
have deprived her and her mother of their rights? If it hadn't been for
me your two hundred thousand shares wouldn't be worth two hundred cents.
I ask Virginia now--didn't he send you to my bank----"

"What?" demanded the Colonel, suddenly whirling upon his daughter, but
Virginia avoided his eyes.

"Yes," she said, "he did send me down--and I betrayed my trust. But it's
just because of that that we'll stand by him now----"

"Virginia!" said the Colonel, speaking with painful distinctness. "Do I
understand that you were--that woman? And did Mr. Blount here, by any
means whatever, persuade you to violate your trust?"

"Yes, he did!" cried out Virginia, "but it was all my fault and I don't
want Mr. Blount blamed for it. I did it out of meanness, but I was sorry
for it afte