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肩書を与える: The Golden Slipper
Author: Anna Katharine Green
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Language: English
Date first 地位，任命するd:  April 2017
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The Golden Slipper
And Other Problems for Violet Strange

Anna Katharine Green

Contents

Problem I. The Golden Slipper
Problem II. The Second 弾丸
Problem III. An Intangible 手がかり（を与える）
Problem IV. The Grotto Spectre
Problem V. The Dreaming Lady
Problem VI. The House Of Clocks
Problem VII. The Doctor, His Wife, And The Clock
Problem VIII. 行方不明の: Page Thirteen
Problem IX. Violet's Own

Problem I
The Golden Slipper

"She's here! I thought she would be. She's one of the three young ladies you see in the 権利-手渡す box 近づく the proscenium."

The gentleman thus 演説（する）／住所d—a man of middle age and a member of the most 排除的 clubs—turned his オペラ glass toward the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す 指定するd, and in some astonishment retorted:

"She? Why those are the 行方不明になるs Pratt and—"

"行方不明になる Violet Strange; no other."

"And do you mean to say—"

"I do—"

"That あそこの silly little chit, whose father I know, whose fortune I know, who is seen everywhere, and who is called one of the season's belles is an スパイ／執行官 of yours; a—a—"

"No 指名するs here, please. You want a mystery solved. It is not a 事柄 for the police—that is, as yet,—and so you come to me, and when I ask for the facts, I find that women and only women are 伴う／関わるd, and that these women are not only young but one and all of the highest society. Is it a man's work to go to the 底（に届く） of a combination like this? No. Sex against sex, and, if possible, 青年 against 青年. Happily, I know such a person—a girl of gifts and extraordinarily 井戸／弁護士席 placed for the 目的. Why she uses her talents in this direction—why, with means enough to play the part natural to her as a successful debutante, she 同意s to 占領する herself with social and other mysteries, you must ask her, not me. Enough that I 約束 you her 援助（する） if you want it. That is, if you can 利益／興味 her. She will not work さもなければ."

Mr. Driscoll again raised his オペラ glass.

"But it's a comedy 直面する," he commented. "It's hard to associate intellectuality with such quaintness of 表現. Are you sure of her discretion?"

"Whom is she with?"

"Abner Pratt, his wife, and daughters."

"Is he a man to ゆだねる his 事件／事情／状勢s unadvisedly?"

"Abner Pratt! Do you mean to say that she is anything more to him than his daughters' guest?"

"裁判官. You see how merry they are. They were in 深い trouble yesterday. You are 証言，証人／目撃する to a 祝賀."

"And she?"

"Don't you 観察する how they are 負担ing her with attentions? She's too young to rouse such 利益／興味 in a family of 顕著に 冷淡な temperament for any other 推論する／理由 than that of 感謝."

"It's hard to believe. But if what you hint is true, 安全な・保証する me an 適切な時期 at once of talking to this youthful marvel. My 事件／事情／状勢 is serious. The dinner I have について言及するd comes off in three days and—"

"I know. I 認める your need; but I think you had better enter Mr. Pratt's box without my 介入. 行方不明になる Strange's value to us will be impaired the moment her 関係 with us is discovered."

"Ah, there's Ruthven! He will take me to Mr. Pratt's box," 発言／述べるd Driscoll as the curtain fell on the second 行為／法令／行動する. "Any suggestions before I go?"

"Yes, and an important one. When you make your 屈服する, touch your left shoulder with your 権利 手渡す. It is a signal. She may 答える／応じる to it; but if she does not, do not be discouraged. One of her idiosyncrasies is a theoretical dislike of her work. But once she gets 利益／興味d, nothing will 持つ／拘留する her 支援する. That's all, except this. In no event give away her secret. That's part of the compact, you remember."

Driscoll nodded and left his seat for Ruthven's box. When the curtain rose for the third time he could be seen sitting with the 行方不明になるs Pratt and their vivacious young friend. A widower and still on the 権利 味方する of fifty, his presence there did not pass unnoted, and curiosity was rife の中で 確かな onlookers as to which of the twin belles was 責任がある this change in his 井戸／弁護士席-known habits. Unfortunately, no 適切な時期 was given him for showing. Other and younger men had followed his lead into the box, and they saw him 軍隊d upon the good graces of the fascinating but inconsequent 行方不明になる Strange whose 早い 解雇する／砲火／射撃 of talk he was hardly of a temperament to 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がる.

Did he appear 不満な? Yes; but only one person in the オペラ house knew why. 行方不明になる Strange had shown no comprehension of or sympathy with his errand. Though she chatted amiably enough between duets and trios, she gave him no 適切な時期 to 表明する his wishes though she knew them 井戸／弁護士席 enough, 借りがあるing to the signal he had given her.

This might be in character but it hardly ふさわしい his 見解（をとる）s; and, 存在 a man of 決意／決議, he took advantage of an 吸収するing minute on the 行う／開催する／段階 to lean 今後 and whisper in her ear:

"It's my daughter for whom I request your services; as 罰金 a girl as any in this house. Give me a 審理，公聴会. You certainly can manage it."

She was a small, slight woman whose 自然に quaint 外見 was accentuated by the extreme 簡単 of her attire. In the tier upon tier of boxes rising before his 注目する，もくろむs, no other personality could 争う with hers in strangeness, or in the illusive 質 of her ever-changing 表現. She was vivacity incarnate and, to the ordinary 観察者／傍聴者, light as thistledown in fibre and in feeling. But not to all. To those who watched her long, there （機の）カム moments—say when the music rose to 高さs of greatness—when the mouth so given over to laughter took on curves of the rarest sensibility, and a woman's lofty soul shone through her 半端物, bewildering features.

Driscoll had 公式文書，認めるd this, and その結果 を待つd her reply in secret hope.

It （機の）カム in the form of a question and only after an instant's 陳列する，発揮する of displeasure or かもしれない of pure nervous irritability.

"What has she done?"

"Nothing. But 名誉き損，中傷 is in the 空気／公表する, and any day it may ripen into public 告訴，告発."

"告訴，告発 of what?" Her トン was almost pettish.

"Of—of 窃盗," he murmured. "On a 広大な／多数の／重要な 規模," he 強調するd, as the music rose to a 衝突，墜落.

"Jewels?"

"Inestimable ones. They are always returned by somebody. People say, by me."

"Ah!" The little lady's 手渡すs grew 安定した,—they had been ぱたぱたするing all over her （競技場の）トラック一周. "I will see you to-morrow morning at my father's house," she presently 観察するd; and turned her 十分な attention to the 行う／開催する／段階.

Some three days after this Mr. Driscoll opened his house on the Hudson to 著名な guests. He had not 願望（する）d the publicity of such an event, nor the 適切な時期 it gave for an 増加する of the スキャンダル 内密に in 循環／発行部数 against his daughter. But the 外交官／大使 and his wife were foreign and any 回避 of the 約束d 歓待 would be sure to be misunderstood; so the 計画／陰謀 was carried 今後 though with いっそう少なく eclat than かもしれない was 推定する／予想するd.

の中で the lesser guests, who were mostly young and 井戸／弁護士席 熟知させるd with the house and its 歓待, there was one unique 人物／姿／数字,—that of the lively 行方不明になる Strange, who, if 本人自身で unknown to 行方不明になる Driscoll, was so gifted with the 質s which tell on an occasion of this 肉親，親類d, that the stately young hostess あられ／賞賛するd her presence with very obvious 感謝.

The manner of their first 会合 was singular, and of 広大な／多数の／重要な 利益／興味 to one of them at least. 行方不明になる Strange had come in an automobile and had been shown her room; but there was nobody to …を伴って her 負かす／撃墜する-stairs afterward, and, finding herself alone in the 広大な／多数の／重要な hall, she 自然に moved toward the library, the door of which stood ajar. She had 押し進めるd this door half open before she noticed that the room was already 占領するd. As a consequence, she was made the 予期しない 観察者／傍聴者 of a beautiful picture of 青年 and love.

A young man and a young woman were standing together in the glow of a 炎ing 支持を得ようと努めるd-解雇する／砲火／射撃. No word was to be heard, but in their 直面するs, eloquent with passion, there shone something so 深い and true that the chance 侵入者 hesitated on the threshold, eager to lay this picture away in her mind with the other lovely and 悲劇の memories now 急速な／放蕩な 蓄積するing there. Then she drew 支援する, and readvancing with a いっそう少なく noiseless foot, （機の）カム into the 十分な presence of Captain Holliday drawn up in all the pride of his 軍の 階級 beside Alicia, the 遂行するd daughter of the house, who, if under a 影をつくる／尾行する as many whispered, wore that 影をつくる／尾行する as some women wear a 栄冠を与える.

行方不明になる Strange was struck with 賞賛, and turned upon them the brightest facet of her vivacious nature all the time she was 説 to herself: "Does she know why I am here? Or does she look upon me only as an 付加 guest foisted upon her by a thoughtless parent?"

There was nothing in the manner of her cordial but composed young hostess to show, and 行方不明になる Strange, with but one thought in mind since she had caught the light of feeling on the two 直面するs 直面するing her, took the first 適切な時期 that 申し込む／申し出d of running over the facts given her by Mr. Driscoll, to see if any reconcilement were possible between them and an innocence in which she must henceforth believe.

They were certainly of a most 損失ing nature.

行方不明になる Driscoll and four other young ladies of her own 駅／配置する in life had formed themselves, some two years before, into a coterie of five, called The Inseparables. They lunched together, 棒 together, visited together. So の近くに was the 社債 and their 相互の dependence so evident, that it （機の）カム to be the custom to 招待する the whole five whenever the size of the 機能（する）／行事 令状d it. In fact, it was far from an uncommon occurrence to see them grouped at 歓迎会s or に引き続いて one another 負かす／撃墜する the aisles of churches or through the mazes of the dance at balls or 議会s. And no one demurred at this, for they were all handsome and attractive girls, till it began to be noticed that, coincident with their presence, some article of value was 設立する 行方不明の from the dressing-room or from the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議するs where wedding gifts were 陳列する，発揮するd. Nothing was 安全な where they went, and though, in the course of time, each article 設立する its way 支援する to its owner in a manner as mysterious as its previous abstraction, the スキャンダル grew and, whether with good 推論する／理由 or bad, finally settled about the person of 行方不明になる Driscoll, who was the showiest, least pecuniarily tempted, and most dignified in manner and speech of them all.

Some instances had been given by way of その上の enlightenment. This is one: A theatre party was in 進歩. There were twelve in the party, five of whom were the Inseparables. In the course of the last 行為／法令／行動する, another lady—in fact, their chaperon—行方不明になるd her handkerchief, an almost priceless bit of lace. 肯定的な that she had brought it with her into the box, she 原因（となる）d a careful search, but without the least success. 解任するing 確かな whispers she had heard, she 公式文書，認めるd which of the five girls were with her in the box. They were 行方不明になる Driscoll, 行方不明になる Hughson, 行方不明になる Yates, and 行方不明になる Benedict. 行方不明になる West sat in the box 隣接するing.

A fortnight later this handkerchief 再現するd—and where? の中で the cushions of a yellow satin couch in her own 製図／抽選-room. The Inseparables had just made their call and the three who had sat on the couch were 行方不明になる Driscoll, 行方不明になる Hughson, and 行方不明になる Benedict.

The next instance seemed to point still more insistently toward the lady already 指名するd. 行方不明になる Yates had an expensive 現在の to buy, and the whole five Inseparables went in an 課すing group to Tiffany's. A tray of （犯罪の）一味s was 始める，決める before them. All 診察するd and 熱望して fingered the 在庫／株 out of which 行方不明になる Yates presently chose a finely 始める，決める emerald. She was 主要な her friends away when the clerk suddenly whispered in her ear, "I 行方不明になる one of the （犯罪の）一味s." 狼狽d beyond speech, she turned and 協議するd the 直面するs of her four companions who 星／主役にするd 支援する at her with immovable serenity. But one of them was paler than usual, and this lady (it was 行方不明になる Driscoll) held her 手渡すs in her muff and did not 申し込む／申し出 to take them out. 行方不明になる Yates, whose father had 完全にするd a big "取引，協定" the week before, wheeled 一連の会議、交渉／完成する upon the clerk. "告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 it! 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 it at its 十分な value," said she. "I buy both the （犯罪の）一味s."

And in three weeks the purloined （犯罪の）一味 （機の）カム 支援する to her, in a box of violets with no 指名する 大（公）使館員d.

The third instance was a 最近の one, and had come to Mr. Driscoll's ears 直接／まっすぐに from the lady 苦しむing the loss. She was a woman of uncompromising 正直さ, who felt it her 義務 to make known to this gentleman the に引き続いて facts: She had just left a studio 歓迎会, and was standing at the 抑制（する） waiting for a taxicab to draw up, when a small boy—a street arab—darted toward her from the other 味方する of the street, and thrusting into her 手渡す something small and hard, cried breathlessly as he slipped away, "It's yours, ma'am; you dropped it." Astonished, for she had not been conscious of any loss, she looked 負かす／撃墜する at her treasure trove and 設立する it to be a small medallion which she いつかs wore on a chain at her belt. But she had not worn it that day, nor any day for weeks. Then she remembered. She had worn it a month before to a 類似の 歓迎会 at this same studio. A number of young girls had stood about her admiring it—she remembered 井戸／弁護士席 who they were; the Inseparables, of course, and to please them she had slipped it from its chain. Then something had happened,—something which コースを変えるd her attention 完全に,—and she had gone home without the medallion; had, in fact, forgotten it, only to 解任する its loss now. Placing it in her 捕らえる、獲得する, she looked あわてて about her. A （人が）群がる was at her 支援する; nothing to be distinguished there. But in 前線, on the opposite 味方する of the street, stood a club-house, and in one of its windows she perceived a 独房監禁 人物／姿／数字 looking out. It was that of 行方不明になる Driscoll's father. He could imagine her 結論.

In vain he 否定するd all knowledge of the 事柄. She told him other stories which had come to her ears of 窃盗s as mysterious, followed by 復古／返還s as peculiar as this one, finishing with, "It is your daughter, and people are beginning to say so."

And 行方不明になる Strange, brooding over these instances, would have said the same, but for 行方不明になる Driscoll's 絶対の serenity of demeanour and 完全にする abandonment to love. These seemed 相いれない with 犯罪; these, whatever the 外見s, 布告するd innocence—an innocence she was here to 証明する if fortune favoured and the really 有罪の person's madness should again break 前へ／外へ.

For madness it would be and nothing いっそう少なく, for any 手渡す, even the most experienced, to draw attention to itself by a repetition of old tricks on an occasion so 示すd. Yet because it would take madness, and madness knows no 法律, she 用意が出来ている herself for the contingency under a mask of girlish smiles which made her at once the delight and astonishment of her watchful and uneasy host.

With the exception of the diamonds worn by the Ambassadress, there was but one jewel of consequence to be seen at the dinner that night; but how 広大な／多数の／重要な was that consequence and with what splendour it 投資するd the 雪の降る，雪の多い neck it adorned!

行方不明になる Strange, in compliment to the noble foreigners, had put on one of her family heirlooms—a filigree pendant of 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の sapphires which had once belonged to Marie Antoinette. As its beauty flashed upon the women, and its value struck the host, the latter could not 抑制する himself from casting an anxious 注目する，もくろむ about the board in search of some 記念品 of the cupidity with which one person there must welcome this 予期しない sight.

自然に his first ちらりと見ること fell upon Alicia, seated opposite to him at the other end of the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. But her 注目する，もくろむs were どこかよそで, and her smile for Captain Holliday, and the father's gaze travelled on, taking up each young girl's 直面する in turn. All were 熟視する／熟考するing 行方不明になる Strange and her jewels, and the cheeks of one were 紅潮／摘発するd and those of the others pale, but whether with dread or longing who could tell. Struck with foreboding, but alive to his 義務 as host, he 軍隊d his ちらりと見ることs away, and did not even 許す himself to question the 動機 or the 知恵 of the 誘惑 thus 申し込む／申し出d.

Two hours later and the girls were all in one room. It was a custom of the Inseparables to 会合，会う for a 雑談（する） before retiring, but always alone and in the room of one of their number. But this was a night of 革新s; Violet was not only 含むd, but the 会合 was held in her room. Her way with girls was even more 実りの多い／有益な of result than her way with men. They might laugh at her, 非難する her or even call her 指名するs 重要な of disdain, but they never left her long to herself or 行方不明になるd an 適切な時期 to make the most of her irrepressible chatter.

Her satisfaction at entering this charmed circle did not take from her piquancy, and story after story fell from her lips, as she ぱたぱたするd about, now here now there, in her endless 準備s for 退職. She had taken off her historic pendant after it had been duly admired and 扱うd by all 現在の, and, with the careless 信用／信任 of an 保証するd 所有権, thrown it 負かす／撃墜する upon the end of her dresser, which, by the way, 事業／計画（する）d very の近くに to the open window.

"Are you going to leave your jewel there?" whispered a 発言する／表明する in her ear as a burst of laughter rang out in 返答 to one of her sallies.

Turning, with a 模擬実験／偽ること of 一連の会議、交渉／完成する-注目する，もくろむd wonder, she met 行方不明になる Hughson's earnest gaze with the careless rejoinder, "What's the 害（を与える）?" and went on with her story with all the 無謀な 緩和する of a perfectly thoughtless nature.

行方不明になる Hughson abandoned her 抗議する. How could she explain her 推論する／理由s for it to one 明らかに uninitiated in the スキャンダル associated with their especial clique.

Yes, she left the jewel there; but she locked her door and quickly, so that they must all have heard her before reaching their rooms. Then she crossed to the window, which, like all on this 味方する, opened on a balcony running the length of the house. She was aware of this balcony, also of the fact that only young ladies slept in the 回廊（地帯） communicating with it. But she was not やめる sure that this one 回廊（地帯） 融通するd them all. If one of them should room どこかよそで! (行方不明になる Driscoll, for instance). But no! the 苦悩 陳列する，発揮するd for the safety of her jewel 妨げるd that supposition. Their hostess, if 非，不，無 of the others, was within 接近 of this room and its open window. But how about the 残り／休憩（する）? Perhaps the lights would tell. 熱望して the little schemer looked 前へ／外へ, and let her ちらりと見ることs travel 負かす／撃墜する the 十分な length of the balcony. Two separate beams of light 発射 across it as she looked, and presently another, and, after some waiting, a fourth. But the fifth failed to appear. This troubled her, but not 本気で. Two of the girls might be sleeping in one bed.

製図／抽選 her shade, she finished her 準備s for the night; then with her kimono on, 解除するd the pendant and thrust it into a small box she had taken from her trunk. A curious smile, very unlike any she had shown to man or woman that day, gave a sarcastic 解除する to her lips, as with a slow and thoughtful 巧みな操作 of her dainty fingers she moved the jewel about in this small receptacle and then returned it, after one quick 診察するing ちらりと見ること, to the very 位置／汚点／見つけ出す on the dresser from which she had taken it. "If only the madness is 広大な／多数の／重要な enough!" that smile seemed to say. Truly, it was much to hope for, but a chance is a chance; and 慰安ing herself with the thought, 行方不明になる Strange put out her light, and, with a 迅速な raising of the shade she had 以前 pulled 負かす／撃墜する, took a final look at the prospect.

Its 面 made her shudder. A low 霧 was rising from the meadows in the far distance, and its ghostliness under the moon woke all sorts of uncanny images in her excited mind. To escape them she crept into bed where she lay with her 注目する，もくろむs on the end of her dresser. She had の近くにd that half of the French window over which she had drawn the shade; but she had left ajar the one giving 解放する／自由な 接近 to the jewels; and when she was not watching the scintillation of her sapphires in the moonlight, she was dwelling in 直す／買収する，八百長をするd attention on this 狭くする 開始.

But nothing happened, and two o'clock, then three o'clock struck, without a dimming of the blue scintillations on the end of her dresser. Then she suddenly sat up. Not that she heard anything new, but that a thought had come to her. "If an 試みる／企てる is made," so she murmured softly to herself, "it will be by—" She did not finish. Something—she could not call it sound—始める，決める her heart （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域ing tumultuously, and listening—listening—watching—watching—she followed in her imagination the approach 負かす／撃墜する the balcony of an almost inaudible step, not daring to move herself, it seemed so 近づく, but waiting with 注目する，もくろむs 直す／買収する，八百長をするd, for the 影をつくる／尾行する which must 落ちる across the shade she had failed to raise over that half of the swinging window she had so carefully left shut.

At length she saw it 事業／計画（する）ing slowly across the わずかに illuminated surface. Formless, save for the outreaching 手渡す, it passed the casement's 辛勝する／優位, 近づくing with pauses and hesitations the open gap beyond through which the neglected sapphires beamed with 安定した lustre. Would she ever see the 手渡す itself appear between the dresser and the window でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れる? Yes, there it comes,—small, delicate, and startlingly white, threading that gap—darting with the suddenness of a serpent's tongue toward the dresser and disappearing again with the pendant in its clutch.

As she realizes this,—she is but young, you know,—as she sees her bait taken and the hardly 推定する／予想するd event 実行するd, her pent-up breath sped 前へ／外へ in a sigh which sent the 侵入者 飛行機で行くing, and so startled herself that she sank 支援する in terror on her pillow.

The breakfast-call had sounded its musical chimes through the halls. The 外交官／大使 and his wife had 答える／応じるd, so had most of the young gentlemen and ladies, but the daughter of the house was not amongst them, nor 行方不明になる Strange, whom one would 自然に 推定する／予想する to see 負かす／撃墜する first of all.

These two absences puzzled Mr. Driscoll. What might they not portend? But his suspense, at least in one regard, was short. Before his guests were 井戸／弁護士席 seated, 行方不明になる Driscoll entered from the terrace in company with Captain Holliday. In her 武器 she carried a 抱擁する bunch of roses and was looking very beautiful. Her father's heart warmed at the sight. No 影をつくる／尾行する from the night 残り／休憩（する）d upon her.

But 行方不明になる Strange!—where was she? He could not feel やめる 平易な till he knew.

"Have any of you seen 行方不明になる Strange?" he asked, as they sat 負かす／撃墜する at （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. And his 注目する，もくろむs sought the Inseparables.

Five lovely 長，率いるs were shaken, some carelessly, some wonderingly, and one, with a quick, 軍隊d smile. But he was in no mood to 差別する, and he had beckoned one of the servants to him, when a step was heard at the door and the delinquent slid in and took her place, in a shamefaced manner suggestive of a 原因（となる） deeper than mere tardiness. In fact, she had what might be called a 脅すd 空気／公表する, and 星／主役にするd into her plate, 避けるing every 注目する，もくろむ, which was certainly not natural to her. What did it mean? and why, as she made a poor 試みる／企てる at eating, did four of the Inseparables 交流 ちらりと見ることs of 疑問 and 狼狽 and then concentrate their looks upon his daughter? That Alicia failed to notice this, but sat abloom above her roses now fastened in a 広大な／多数の／重要な bunch upon her breast, 申し込む／申し出d him some 慰安, yet, for all the volubility of his 長，指導者 guests, the meal was a 広大な／多数の／重要な 裁判，公判 to his patience, 同様に as a poor 準備 for the hour when, the noble pair gone, he stepped into the library to find 行方不明になる Strange を待つing him with one 手渡す behind her 支援する and a piteous look on her infantile features.

"O, Mr. Driscoll," she began,—and then he saw that a group of anxious girls hovered in her 後部—"my pendant! my beautiful pendant! It is gone! Somebody reached in from the balcony and took it from my dresser in the night. Of course, it was to 脅す me; all of the girls told me not to leave it there. But I—I cannot make them give it 支援する, and papa is so particular about this jewel that I'm afraid to go home. Won't you tell them it's no joke, and see that I get it again. I won't be so careless another time."

Hardly believing his 注目する，もくろむs, hardly believing his ears,—she was so perfectly the spoiled child （悪事，秘密などを）発見するd in a fault—he looked 厳しく about upon the girls and bade them end the jest and produce the gems at once.

But not one of them spoke, and not one of them moved; only his daughter grew pale until the roses seemed a mockery, and the 安定した 星／主役にする of her large 注目する，もくろむs was almost too much for him to 耐える.

The anguish of this gave asperity to his manner, and in a strange, hoarse トン he loudly cried:

"One of you did this. Which? If it was you, Alicia, speak. I am in no mood for nonsense. I want to know whose foot 横断するd the balcony and whose 手渡す abstracted these jewels."

A continued silence, 深くするing into painful 当惑 for all. Mr. Driscoll 注目する，もくろむd them in ill-隠すd anguish, then turning to 行方不明になる Strange was still その上の thrown off his balance by seeing her pretty 長，率いる droop and her gaze 落ちる in 混乱.

"Oh! it's 平易な enough to tell whose foot 横断するd the balcony," she murmured. "It left this behind." And 製図／抽選 今後 her 手渡す, she held out to 見解（をとる） a small gold-coloured slipper. "I 設立する it outside my window," she explained. "I hoped I should not have to show it."

A gasp of uncontrollable feeling from the surrounding group of girls, then 絶対の stillness.

"I fail to 認める it," 観察するd Mr. Driscoll, taking it in his 手渡す. "Whose slipper is this?" he asked in a manner not to be gainsaid.

Still no reply, then as he continued to 注目する，もくろむ the girls one after another a 発言する／表明する—the last he 推定する／予想するd to hear—spoke and his daughter cried:

"It is 地雷. But it was not I who walked in it 負かす／撃墜する the balcony."

"Alicia!"

A month's 逮捕 was in that cry. The silence, the pent-up emotion brooding in the 空気／公表する was intolerable. A fresh young laugh broke it.

"Oh," exclaimed a roguish 発言する／表明する, "I knew that you were all in it! But the especial one who wore the slipper and grabbed the pendant cannot hope to hide herself. Her finger-tips will give her away."

Amazement on every 直面する and a convulsive movement in one half-hidden 手渡す.

"You see," the airy little 存在 went on, in her light way, "I have some awfully funny tricks. I am always 存在 scolded for them, but somehow I don't 改善する. One is to keep my 宝石類 有望な with a strange foreign paste an old Frenchwoman once gave me in Paris. It's of a vivid red, and stains the fingers dreadfully if you don't take care. Not even water will take it off, see 地雷. I used that paste on my pendant last night just after you left me, and 存在 awfully sleepy I didn't stop to rub it off. If your finger-tips are not red, you never touched the pendant, 行方不明になる Driscoll. Oh, see! They are as white as milk.

"But some one took the sapphires, and I 借りがある that person a scolding, 同様に as myself. Was it you, 行方不明になる Hughson? You, 行方不明になる Yates? or—" and here she paused before 行方不明になる West, "Oh, you have your gloves on! You are the 有罪の one!" and her laugh rang out like a peal of bells, robbing her next 宣告，判決 of even a suggestion of sarcasm. "Oh, what a sly-boots!" she cried. "How you have deceived me! Whoever would have thought you to be the one to play the mischief!"

Who indeed! Of all the five, she was the one who was considered 絶対 免疫の from 疑惑 ever since the night Mrs. Barnum's handkerchief had been taken, and she not in the box. 注目する，もくろむs which had 調査するd 行方不明になる Driscoll askance now rose in wonder toward hers, and failed to 落ちる again because of the stoniness into which her delicately-carved features had settled.

"行方不明になる West, I know you will be glad to 除去する your gloves; 行方不明になる Strange certainly has a 権利 to know her special tormentor," spoke up her host in as natural a 発言する／表明する as his 広大な／多数の／重要な 救済 would 許す.

But the 冷淡な, half-frozen woman remained without a movement. She was not deceived by the banter of the moment. She knew that to all of the others, if not to Peter Strange's 半端物 little daughter, it was the どろぼう who was 存在 spotted and brought thus hilariously to light. And her 注目する，もくろむs grew hard, and her lips grey, and she failed to unglove the 手渡すs upon which all ちらりと見ることs were concentrated.

"You do not need to see my 手渡すs; I 自白する to taking the pendant."

"Caroline!"

A heart 打ち勝つ by shock had thrown up this cry. 行方不明になる West 注目する，もくろむd her bosom-friend disdainfully.

"行方不明になる Strange has called it a jest," she coldly commented. "Why should you 示唆する anything of a graver character?"

Alicia brought thus to bay, and by one she had 信用d most, stepped quickly 今後, and quivering with vague 疑問s, aghast before unheard-of 可能性s, she tremulously 発言／述べるd:

"We did not sleep together last night. You had to come into my room to get my slippers. Why did you do this? What was in your mind, Caroline?"

A 安定した look, a low laugh choked with many emotions answered her.

"Do you want me to reply, Alicia? Or shall we let it pass?"

"Answer!"

It was Mr. Driscoll who spoke. Alicia had shrunk 支援する, almost to where a little 人物／姿／数字 was cowering with wide 注目する，もくろむs 直す／買収する，八百長をするd in something like terror on the 誘発するd father's 直面する.

"Then hear me," murmured the girl, entrapped and suddenly desperate. "I wore Alicia's slippers and I took the jewels, because it was time that an end should come to your 相互の dissimulation. The love I once felt for her she has herself deliberately killed. I had a lover—she took him. I had 約束 in life, in honour, and in friendship. She destroyed all. A どろぼう—she has dared to aspire to him! And you 容赦するd her fault. You, with your craven 復古／返還 of her booty, thought the 事柄 （疑いを）晴らすd and her a fit mate for a man of highest honour."

"行方不明になる West,"—no one had ever heard that トン in Mr. Driscoll's 発言する／表明する before, "before you say another word calculated to 誤って導く these ladies, let me say that this 手渡す never returned any one's booty or had anything to do with the 復古／返還 of any abstracted article. You have been caught in a 逮捕する, 行方不明になる West, from which you cannot escape by 名誉き損，中傷ing my innocent daughter."

"Innocent!" All the 悲劇 latent in this peculiar girl's nature 炎d 前へ／外へ in the word. "Alicia, 直面する me. Are you innocent? Who took the Dempsey 珊瑚s, and that diamond from the Tiffany tray?"

"It is not necessary for Alicia to answer," the father interposed with not unnatural heat. "行方不明になる West stands self-罪人／有罪を宣告するd."

"How about Lady Paget's scarf? I was not there that night."

"You are a woman of wiles. That could be managed by one bent on an (a)手の込んだ／(v)詳述する 計画／陰謀 of 復讐."

"And so could the abstraction of Mrs. Barnum's five-hundred-dollar handkerchief by one who sat in the next box," chimed in 行方不明になる Hughson, 辛勝する／優位ing away from the friend to whose honour she would have pinned her 約束 an hour before. "I remember now seeing her lean over the railing to adjust the old lady's shawl."

With a start, Caroline West turned a 悲劇の gaze upon the （衆議院の）議長.

"You think me 有罪の of all because of what I did last night?"

"Why shouldn't I?"

"And you, Anna?"

"Alicia has my sympathy," murmured 行方不明になる Benedict.

Yet the wild girl 固執するd.

"But I have told you my 誘発. You cannot believe that I am 有罪の of her sin; not if you look at her as I am looking now."

But their ちらりと見ることs hardly followed her pointing finger. Her friends—the comrades of her 青年, the Inseparables with their secret 誓い—one and all held themselves aloof, struck by the perfidy they were only just beginning to take in. Smitten with despair, for these girls were her life, she gave one wild leap and sank on her 膝s before Alicia.

"O speak!" she began. "許す me, and—"

A tremble 掴むd her throat; she 中止するd to speak and let 落ちる her 部分的に／不公平に uplifted 手渡すs. The cheery sound of men's 発言する／表明するs had drifted in from the terrace, and the 人物／姿／数字 of Captain Holliday could be seen passing by. The shudder which shook Caroline West communicated itself to Alicia Driscoll, and the former rising quickly, the two women 調査するd each other, かもしれない for the first time, with open soul and a 完全にする understanding.

"Caroline!" murmured the one.

"Alicia!" pleaded the other.

"Caroline, 信用 me," said Alicia Driscoll in that moving 発言する／表明する of hers, which more than her beauty caught and 保持するd all hearts. "You have served me ill, but it was not all undeserved. Girls," she went on, 注目する，もくろむing both them and her father with the wistfulness of a breaking heart, "neither Caroline nor myself are worthy of Captain Holliday's love. Caroline has told you her fault, but 地雷 is perhaps a worse one. The （犯罪の）一味—the scarf—the diamond pins—I took them all—took them if I did not 保持する them. A 悪口を言う／悪態 has been over my life—the 悪口を言う／悪態 of a longing I could not 戦闘. But love was working a change in me. Since I have known Captain Holliday—but that's all over. I was mad to think I could be happy with such memories in my life. I shall never marry now—or touch jewels again—my own or another's. Father, father, you won't go 支援する on your girl! I couldn't see Caroline 苦しむ for what I have done. You will 容赦 me and help—help—"

Her 発言する／表明する choked. She flung herself into her father's 武器; his 長，率いる bent over hers, and for an instant not a soul in the room moved. Then 行方不明になる Hughson gave a spring and caught her by the 手渡す. "We are inseparable," said she, and kissed the 手渡す, murmuring, "Now is our time to show it."

Then other lips fell upon those 冷淡な and trembling fingers, which seemed to warm under these embraces. And then a 涙／ほころび. It （機の）カム from the hard 注目する，もくろむ of Caroline, and remained a sacred secret between the two.

"You have your pendant?"

Mr. Driscoll's 苦しむing 注目する，もくろむ shone 負かす／撃墜する on Violet Strange's uplifted 直面する as she 前進するd to say good-bye 準備の to 出発.

"Yes," she 定評のある, "but hardly, I 恐れる, your 感謝."

And the answer astonished her.

"I am not sure that the real Alicia will not make her father happier than the unreal one has ever done."

"And Captain Holliday?"

"He may come to feel the same."

"Then I do not やめる in 不名誉?"

"You 出発／死 with my thanks."

When a 確かな personage was told of the success of 行方不明になる Strange's 最新の manoeuvre, he 発言／述べるd: "The little one 進歩s. We shall have to give her a 事例／患者 of prime importance next."

End Of Problem I

Problem II
The Second 弾丸

"You must see her."

"No. No."

"She's a most unhappy woman. Husband and child both taken from her in a moment; and now, all means of living 同様に, unless some happy thought of yours—some inspiration of your genius—shows us a way of re-設立するing her （人命などを）奪う，主張するs to the 政策 無効のd by this cry of 自殺."

But the small wise 長，率いる of Violet Strange continued its slow shake of decided 拒絶.

"I'm sorry," she 抗議するd, "but it's やめる out of my 州. I'm too young to meddle with so serious a 事柄."

"Not when you can save a （死が）奪い去るd woman the only possible 補償（金） left her by untoward 運命／宿命?"

"Let the police try their 手渡す at that."

"They have had no success with the 事例／患者."

"Or you?"

"Nor I either."

"And you 推定する／予想する—"

"Yes, 行方不明になる Strange. I 推定する／予想する you to find the 行方不明の 弾丸 which will settle the fact that 殺人 and not 自殺 ended George Hammond's life. If you cannot, then a long litigation を待つs this poor 未亡人, ending, as such litigation usually does, in favour of the stronger party. There's the 代案／選択肢. If you once saw her—"

"But that's what I'm not willing to do. If I once saw her I should 産する／生じる to her importunities and 試みる／企てる the seemingly impossible. My instincts 企て，努力，提案 me say no. Give me something easier."

"Easier things are not so remunerative. There's money in this 事件／事情／状勢, if the 保険 company is 軍隊d to 支払う／賃金 up. I can 申し込む／申し出 you—"

"What?"

There was 切望 in the トン にもかかわらず her 成果／努力 at nonchalance. The other smiled imperceptibly, and 簡潔に 指名するd the sum.

It was larger than she had 推定する／予想するd. This her 訪問者 saw by the way her eyelids fell and the peculiar stillness which, for an instant, held her vivacity in check.

"And you think I can earn that?"

Her 注目する，もくろむs were 直す／買収する，八百長をするd on his in an 切望 as honest as it was unrestrained.

He could hardly 隠す his amazement, her 願望（する） was so evident and the 原因（となる） of it so difficult to understand. He knew she 手配中の，お尋ね者 money—that was her avowed 推論する／理由 for entering into this uncongenial work. But to want it so much! He ちらりと見ることd at her person; it was 簡単に 覆う？ but very expensively—how expensively it was his 商売／仕事 to know. Then he took in the room in which they sat. 簡単 again, but the 簡単 of high art—the 製図／抽選-room of one rich enough to indulge in the final 高級な of a 高度に cultivated taste, viz.: unostentatious elegance and the subjection of each carefully chosen ornament to the general 影響.

What did this favoured child of fortune 欠如（する） that she could be reached by such a 嘆願, when her whole 存在 反乱d from the nature of the 仕事 he 申し込む／申し出d her? It was a question not new to him; but one he had never heard answered and was not likely to hear answered now. But the fact remained that the 同意 he had thought 扶養家族 upon 同情的な 利益／興味 could be reached much more readily by the 約束 of large emolument,—and he owned to a feeling of secret 失望 even while he 認めるd the value of the 発見.

But his satisfaction in the latter, if satisfaction it were, was of very short duration. Almost すぐに he 観察するd a change in her. The sparkle which had shone in the 注目する，もくろむ whose depths he had never been able to 侵入する, had dissipated itself in something like a 涙／ほころび and she spoke up in that vigorous トン no one but himself had ever heard, as she said:

"No. The sum is a good one and I could use it; but I will not waste my energy on a 事例／患者 I do not believe in. The man 発射 himself. He was a 相場師, and probably had good 推論する／理由 for his 行為／法令／行動する. Even his wife 認めるs that he has lately had more losses than 伸び（る）s."

"See her. She has something to tell you which never got into the papers."

"You say that? You know that?"

"On my honour, 行方不明になる Strange."

Violet pondered; then suddenly succumbed.

"Let her come, then. 誘発する to the hour. I will receive her at three. Later I have a tea and two party calls to make."

Her 訪問者 rose to leave. He had been able to subdue all 証拠 of his extreme gratification, and now took on a formal 空気／公表する. In 解任するing a guest, 行方不明になる Strange was invariably the society belle and that only. This he had come to 認める.

The 事例／患者 (井戸／弁護士席 known at the time) was, in the fewest possible words, as follows:

On a 蒸し暑い night in September, a young couple living in one of the large apartment houses in the extreme upper 部分 of Manhattan were so annoyed by the incessant crying of a child in the 隣接するing 控訴, that they got up, he to smoke, and she to sit in the window for a possible breath of 冷静な／正味の 空気／公表する. They were congratulating themselves upon the 知恵 they had shown in thus giving up all thought of sleep—for the child's crying had not 中止するd—when (it may have been two o'clock and it may have been a little later) there （機の）カム from somewhere 近づく, the sharp and somewhat peculiar detonation of a ピストル-発射.

He thought it （機の）カム from above; she, from the 後部, and they were 星／主役にするing at each other in the helpless wonder of the moment, when they were struck by the silence. The baby had 中止するd to cry. All was as still in the 隣接するing apartment as in their own—too still—much too still. Their 相互の 星／主役にする turned to one of horror. "It （機の）カム from there!" whispered the wife. "Some 事故 has occurred to Mr. or Mrs. Hammond—we せねばならない go—"

Her words—very tremulous ones—were broken by a shout from below. They were standing in their window and had evidently been seen by a passing policeman. "Anything wrong up there?" they heard him cry. Mr. Saunders すぐに looked out. "Nothing wrong here," he called 負かす／撃墜する. (They were but two stories from the pavement.) "But I'm not so sure about the 後部 apartment. We thought we heard a 発射. Hadn't you better come up, officer? My wife is nervous about it. I'll 会合，会う you at the stair-長，率いる and show you the way."

The officer nodded and stepped in. The young couple あわてて donned some 包むs, and, by the time he appeared on their 床に打ち倒す, they were ready to …を伴って him.

一方／合間, no 騒動 was 明らかな anywhere else in the house, until the policeman rang the bell of the Hammond apartment. Then, 発言する／表明するs began to be heard, and doors to open above and below, but not the one before which the policeman stood.

Another （犯罪の）一味, and this time an insistent one;—and still no 返答. The officer's 手渡す was rising for the third time when there （機の）カム a sound of ぱたぱたするing from behind the パネル盤s against which he had laid his ear, and finally a choked 発言する／表明する uttering unintelligible words. Then a 手渡す began to struggle with the lock, and the door, slowly 開始, 公表する／暴露するd a woman 覆う？ in a あわてて donned wrapper and giving every 証拠 of extreme fright.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, seeing only the compassionate 直面するs of her 隣人s. "You heard it, too! a ピストル-発射 from there—there—my husband's room. I have not dared to go—I—I—O, have mercy and see if anything is wrong! It is so still—so still, and only a moment ago the baby was crying. Mrs. Saunders, Mrs. Saunders, why is it so still?"

She had fallen into her 隣人's 武器. The 手渡す with which she had pointed out a 確かな door had sunk to her 味方する and she appeared to be on the 瀬戸際 of 崩壊（する）.

The officer 注目する，もくろむd her 厳しく, while 公式文書，認めるing her 外見, which was that of a woman あわてて risen from bed.

"Where were you?" he asked. "Not with your husband and child, or you would know what had happened there."

"I was sleeping 負かす／撃墜する the hall," she managed to gasp out. "I'm not 井戸／弁護士席—I—Oh, why do you all stand still and do nothing? My baby's in there. Go! go!" and, with sudden energy, she sprang upright, her 注目する，もくろむs wide open and 燃やすing, her small 井戸／弁護士席 featured 直面する white as the linen she sought to hide.

The officer demurred no longer. In another instant he was trying the door at which she was again pointing.

It was locked.

ちらりと見ることing 支援する at the woman, now cowering almost to the 床に打ち倒す, he 続けざまに猛撃するd at the door and asked the man inside to open.

No answer （機の）カム 支援する.

With a sharp turn he ちらりと見ることd again at the wife.

"You say that your husband is in this room?"

She nodded, gasping faintly, "And the child!"

He turned 支援する, listened, then beckoned to Mr. Saunders. "We shall have to break our way in," said he. "Put your shoulder 井戸／弁護士席 to the door. Now!"

The hinges of the door creaked; the lock gave way (this special officer 重さを計るd two hundred and seventy-five, as he 設立する out, next day), and a 長引かせるd and 広範囲にわたる 衝突，墜落 told the 残り／休憩（する）.

Mrs. Hammond gave a low cry; and, 緊張するing 今後 from where she crouched in terror on the 床に打ち倒す, searched the 直面するs of the two men for some hint of what they saw in the dimly-lighted space beyond. Something dreadful, something which made Mr. Saunders come 急ぐing 支援する with a shout:

"Take her away! Take her to our apartment, Jennie. She must not see—"

Not see! He realized the futility of his words as his gaze fell on the young woman who had risen up at his approach and now stood gazing at him without speech, without movement, but with a glare of terror in her 注目する，もくろむs, which gave him his first 現実化 of human 悲惨.

His own ちらりと見ること fell before it. If he had followed his instinct he would have fled the house rather than answer the question of her look and the 態度 of her whole frozen 団体／死体.

Perhaps in mercy to his speechless terror, perhaps in mercy to herself, she was the one who at last 設立する the word which 発言する／表明するd their 相互の anguish.

"Dead?"

No answer. 非，不，無 was needed.

"And my baby?"

O, that cry! It curdled the hearts of all who heard it. It shook the souls of men and women both inside and outside the apartment; then all was forgotten in the wild 急ぐ she made. The wife and mother had flung herself upon the scene, and, 味方する by 味方する with the not unmoved policeman, stood looking 負かす／撃墜する upon the desolation made in one 致命的な instant in her home and heart.

They lay there together, both past help, both やめる dead. The child had 簡単に been strangled by the 負わせる of his father's arm which lay 直接／まっすぐに across the 上昇傾向d little throat. But the father was a 犠牲者 of the 発射 they had heard. There was 血 on his breast, and a ピストル in his 手渡す.

自殺! The horrible truth was 特許. No wonder they 手配中の，お尋ね者 to 持つ／拘留する the young 未亡人 支援する. Her 隣人, Mrs. Saunders, crept in on tiptoe and put her 武器 about the swaying, fainting woman; but there was nothing to say—絶対 nothing.

At least, they thought not. But when they saw her throw herself 負かす／撃墜する, not by her husband, but by the child, and drag it out from under that strangling arm and 抱擁する and kiss it and call out wildly for a doctor, the officer endeavoured to 干渉する and yet could not find the heart to do so, though he knew the child was dead and should not, によれば all the 支配するs of the 検死官's office, be moved before that 公式の／役人 arrived. Yet because no mother could be 納得させるd of a fact like this, he let her sit with it on the 床に打ち倒す and try all her little arts to 生き返らせる it, while he gave orders to the 管理人 and waited himself for the arrival of doctor and 検死官.

She was still sitting there in wide-注目する，もくろむd 悲惨, alternately fondling the little 団体／死体 and 製図／抽選 支援する to 協議する its small 始める，決める features for some 調印する of life, when the doctor （機の）カム, and, after one look at the child, drew it softly from her 武器 and laid it 静かに in the crib from which its father had evidently 解除するd it but a short time before. Then he turned 支援する to her, and 設立する her on her feet, upheld by her two friends. She had understood his 活動／戦闘, and without a groan had 受託するd her 運命／宿命. Indeed, she seemed incapable of any その上の speech or 活動／戦闘. She was 星／主役にするing 負かす／撃墜する at her husband's 団体／死体, which she, for the first time, seemed fully to see. Was her look one of grief or of 憤慨 for the part he had played so unintentionally in her child's death? It was hard to tell; and when, with slowly rising finger, she pointed to the ピストル so tightly clutched in the other outstretched 手渡す, no one there—and by this time the room was 十分な—could foretell what her words would be when her tongue 回復するd its usage and she could speak.

What she did say was this:

"Is there a 弾丸 gone? Did he 解雇する／砲火／射撃 off that ピストル?" A question so manifestly one of delirium that no one answered it, which seemed to surprise her, though she said nothing till her ちらりと見ること had passed all around the 塀で囲むs of the room to where a window stood open to the night,—its lower sash 存在 完全に raised. "There! look there!" she cried, with a 命令（する）ing accent, and, throwing up her 手渡すs, sank a dead 負わせる into the 武器 of those supporting her.

No one understood; but 自然に more than one 急ぐd to the window. An open space was before them. Here lay the fields not yet parcelled out into lots and built upon; but it was not upon these they looked, but upon the strong trellis which they 設立する there, which, if it supported no vine, formed a veritable ladder between this window and the ground.

Could she have meant to call attention to this fact; and were her words expressive of another idea than the obvious one of 自殺?

If so, to what lengths a woman's imagination can go! Or so their 連合させるd looks seemed to 布告する, when to their utter astonishment they saw the officer, who had 現在のd a 静める 外見 up till now, 転換 his position and with a surprised grunt direct their 注目する，もくろむs to a 部分 of the 塀で囲む just 明白な beyond the half-drawn curtains of the bed. The mirror hanging there showed a 星／主役にする-形態／調整d breakage, such as follows the sharp 衝撃 of a 弾丸 or a ひどく 事業／計画（する）d 石／投石する.

"He 解雇する／砲火／射撃d two 発射s. One went wild; the other straight home."

It was the officer 配達するing his opinion.

Mr. Saunders, returning from the distant room where he had 補助装置d in carrying Mrs. Hammond, cast a look at the 粉々にするd glass, and 発言／述べるd 強制的に:

"I heard but one; and I was sitting up, 乱すd by that poor 幼児. Jennie, did you hear more than one 発射?" he asked, turning toward his wife.

"No," she answered, but not with the 準備完了 he had evidently 推定する／予想するd. "I heard only one, but that was not やめる usual in its トン. I'm used to guns," she explained, turning to the officer. "My father was an army man, and he taught me very 早期に to 負担 and 解雇する／砲火／射撃 a ピストル. There was a 長引かせるd sound to this 発射; something like an echo of itself, に引き続いて の近くに upon the first ping. Didn't you notice that, 過密な住居?"

"I remember something of the 肉親，親類d," her husband 許すd.

"He 発射 twice and quickly," interposed the policeman, sententiously. "We shall find a spent 弾丸 支援する of that mirror."

But when, upon the arrival of the 検死官, an 調査 was made of the mirror and the 塀で囲む behind, no 弾丸 was 設立する either there or any where else in the room, save in the dead man's breast. Nor had more than one been 発射 from his ピストル, as five 十分な 議会s 証言するd. The 事例／患者 which seemed so simple had its mysteries, but the 主張 made by Mrs. Saunders no longer carried 負わせる, nor was the 証拠 申し込む／申し出d by the broken mirror considered as indubitably 設立するing the fact that a second 発射 had been 解雇する／砲火／射撃d in the room.

Yet it was 平等に evident that the 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 which had entered the dead 相場師's breast had not been 配達するd at the の近くに 範囲 of the ピストル 設立する clutched in his 手渡す. There were no 砕く-示すs to be discerned on his pajama-jacket, or on the flesh beneath. Thus anomaly 直面するd anomaly, leaving open but one other theory: that the 弾丸 設立する in Mr. Hammond's breast （機の）カム from the window and the one he 発射 went out of it. But this would necessitate his having 発射 his ピストル from a point far 除去するd from where he was 設立する; and his 負傷させる was such as made it difficult to believe that he would stagger far, if at all, after its infliction.

Yet, because the 検死官 was both conscientious and 警報, he 原因（となる）d a most rigorous search to be made of the ground overlooked by the above について言及するd window; a search in which the police joined, but which was without any result save that of rousing the attention of people in the neighbourhood and 主要な to a story 存在 循環させるd of a man seen some time the night before crossing the fields in a 広大な／多数の／重要な hurry. But as no その上の particulars were 来たるべき, and not even a description of the man to be had, no 強調 would have been laid upon this story had it not transpired that the moment a 報告（する）／憶測 of it had come to Mrs. Hammond's ears (why is there always some one to carry these 報告（する）／憶測s?) she roused from the torpor into which she had fallen, and in wild fashion exclaimed:

"I knew it! I 推定する／予想するd it! He was 発射 through the window and by that wretch. He never 発射 himself." Violent 宣言s which 追跡するd off into the one continuous wail, "O, my baby! my poor baby!"

Such words, even though the fruit of delirium, 長所d some sort of attention, or so this good 検死官 thought, and as soon as 適切な時期 申し込む／申し出d and she was 十分に sane and 静かな to 答える／応じる to his questions, he asked her whom she had meant by that wretch, and what 推論する／理由 she had, or thought she had, of せいにするing her husband's death to any other 機関 than his own disgust with life.

And then it was that his sympathies, although 大いに roused in her favour began to 病弱な. She met the question with a 冷淡な 星／主役にする followed by a few あいまいな words out of which he could make nothing. Had she said wretch? She did not remember. They must not be 影響（力）d by anything she might have uttered in her first grief. She was 井戸／弁護士席-nigh insane at the time. But of one thing they might be sure: her husband had not 発射 himself; he was too much afraid of death for such an 行為／法令／行動する. Besides, he was too happy. Whatever folks might say he was too fond of his family to wish to leave it.

Nor did the 検死官 or any other 公式の／役人 後継する in eliciting anything その上の from her. Even when she was asked, with cruel 主張, how she explained the fact that the baby was 設立する lying on the 床に打ち倒す instead of in its crib, her only answer was: "His father was trying to soothe it. The child was crying dreadfully, as you have heard from those who were kept awake by him that night, and my husband was carrying him about when the 発射 （機の）カム which 原因（となる）d George to 落ちる and overlay the baby in his struggles."

"Carrying a baby about with a 負担d ピストル in his 手渡す?" （機の）カム 支援する in 厳しい retort.

She had no answer for this. She 認める when 知らせるd that the 弾丸 抽出するd from her husband's 団体／死体 had been 設立する to correspond 正確に／まさに with those remaining in the five 議会s of the ピストル taken from his 手渡す, that he was not only the owner of this ピストル but was in the habit of sleeping with it under his pillow; but, beyond that, nothing; and this reticence, 同様に as her manner which was 冷淡な and repellent, told against her.

A 判決 of 自殺 was （判決などを）下すd by the 検死官's 陪審／陪審員団, and the life-保険 company, in which Mr. Hammond had but lately insured himself for a large sum, taking advantage of the 自殺 条項 具体的に表現するd in the 政策, 発表するd its 決意 of not 支払う／賃金ing the same.

Such was the 状況／情勢, as known to Violet Strange and the general public, on the day she was asked to see Mrs. Hammond and learn what might alter her opinion as to the 司法（官） of this 判決 and the stand taken by the Shuler Life 保険 Company.

The clock on the mantel in 行方不明になる Strange's rose-coloured boudoir had struck three, and Violet was gazing in some impatience at the door, when there （機の）カム a gentle knock upon it, and the maid (one of the 年輩の, not youthful, 肉親，親類d) 勧めるd in her 推定する／予想するd 訪問者.

"You are Mrs. Hammond?" she asked, in natural awe of the too 黒人／ボイコット 人物／姿／数字 輪郭（を描く）d so はっきりと against the 深い pink of the sea-爆撃する room.

The answer was a slow 解除するing of the 隠す which 影をつくる／尾行するd the features she knew only from the 削減（する）s she had seen in newspapers.

"You are—行方不明になる Strange?" stammered her 訪問者; "the young lady who—"

"I am," chimed in a 発言する／表明する as （犯罪の）一味ing as it was 甘い. "I am the person you have come here to see. And this is my home. But that does not make me いっそう少なく 利益／興味d in the unhappy, or いっそう少なく desirous of serving them. Certainly you have met with the two greatest losses which can come to a woman—I know your story 井戸／弁護士席 enough to say that—; but what have you to tell me in proof that you should not lose your 心配するd income 同様に? Something 決定的な, I hope, else I cannot help you; something which you should have told the 検死官's 陪審／陪審員団—and did not."

The 紅潮／摘発する which was the 単独の answer these words called 前へ／外へ did not take from the refinement of the young 未亡人's 表現, but rather 追加するd to it; Violet watched it in its ebb and flow and, 本気で 影響する／感情d by it (why, she did not know, for Mrs. Hammond had made no other 控訴，上告 either by look or gesture), 押し進めるd 今後 a 議長，司会を務める and begged her 訪問者 to be seated.

"We can converse in perfect safety here," she said. "When you feel やめる equal to it, let me hear what you have to communicate. It will never go any その上の. I could not do the work I do if I felt it necessary to have a confidant."

"But you are so young and so—so—"

"So inexperienced you would say and so evidently a member of what New Yorkers call 'society.' Do not let that trouble you. My inexperience is not likely to last long and my social 楽しみs are more apt to 追加する to my efficiency than to detract from it."

With this Violet's 直面する broke into a smile. It was not the brilliant one so often seen upon her lips, but there was something in its 質 which carried 激励 to the 未亡人 and led her to say with obvious 切望:

"You know the facts?"

"I have read all the papers."

"I was not believed on the stand."

"It was your manner—"

"I could not help my manner. I was keeping something 支援する, and, 存在 未使用の to deceit, I could not 行為／法令／行動する やめる 自然に."

"Why did you keep something 支援する? When you saw the unfavourable impression made by your reticence, why did you not speak up and 率直に tell your story?"

"Because I was ashamed. Because I thought it would 傷つける me more to speak than to keep silent. I do not think so now; but I did then—and so made my 広大な／多数の／重要な mistake. You must remember not only the awful shock of my 二塁打 loss, but the sense of 犯罪 …を伴ってing it; for my husband and I had quarreled that night, quarreled 激しく—that was why I had run away into another room and not because I was feeling ill and impatient of the baby's fretful cries."

"So people have thought." In 説 this, 行方不明になる Strange was perhaps cruelly emphatic. "You wish to explain that quarrel? You think it will be doing any good to your 原因（となる） to go into that 事柄 with me now?"

"I cannot say; but I must first （疑いを）晴らす my 良心 and then try to 納得させる you that quarrel or no quarrel, he never took his own life. He was not that 肉親，親類d. He had an 異常な 恐れる of death. I do not like to say it but he was a physical coward. I have seen him turn pale at the least hint of danger. He could no more have turned that muzzle upon his own breast than he could have turned it upon his baby. Some other 手渡す 発射 him, 行方不明になる Strange. Remember the open window, the 粉々にするd mirror; and I think I know that 手渡す."

Her 長，率いる had fallen 今後 on her breast. The emotion she showed was not so eloquent of grief as of 深い personal shame.

"You think you know the man?" In 説 this, Violet's 発言する／表明する sunk to a whisper. It was an 告訴，告発 of 殺人 she had just heard.

"To my 広大な／多数の／重要な 苦しめる, yes. When Mr. Hammond and I were married," the 未亡人 now proceeded in a more 決定するd トン, "there was another man—a very violent one—who 公約するd even at the church door that George and I should never live out two 十分な years together. We have not. Our second 周年記念日 would have been in November."

"But—"

"Let me say this: the quarrel of which I speak was not serious enough to occasion any such 行為／法令／行動する of despair on his part. A man would be mad to end his life on account of so slight a 不一致. It was not even on account of the person of whom I've just spoken, though that person had been について言及するd between us earlier in the evening, Mr. Hammond having come across him 直面する to 直面する that very afternoon in the subway. Up to this time neither of us had seen or heard of him since our wedding-day."

"And you think this person whom you barely について言及するd, so mindful of his old grudge that he sought out your 住所／本籍, and, with the 意向 of 殺人, climbed the trellis 主要な to your room and turned his ピストル upon the shadowy 人物／姿／数字 which was all he could see in the 半分-obscurity of a much lowered gas-jet?"

"A man in the dark does not need a 有望な light to see his enemy when he is 意図 upon 復讐."

行方不明になる Strange altered her トン.

"And your husband? You must 認める that he 発射 off his ピストル whether the other did or not."

"It was in self-defence. He would shoot to save his own life—or the baby's."

"Then he must have heard or seen—"

"A man at the window."

"And would have 発射 there?"

"Or tried to."

"Tried to?"

"Yes; the other 発射 first—oh, I've thought it all out—原因（となる）ing my husband's 弾丸 to go wild. It was his which broke the mirror."

Violet's 注目する，もくろむs, 有望な as 星／主役にするs, suddenly 狭くするd.

"And what happened then?" she asked. "Why cannot they find the 弾丸?"

"Because it went out of the window;—ちらりと見ることd off and went out of the window."

Mrs. Hammond's トン was 勝利を得た; her look spirited and 激しい.

Violet 注目する，もくろむd her compassionately.

"Would a 弾丸 ちらりと見ることing off from a mirror, however hung, be apt to reach a window so far on the opposite 味方する?"

"I don't know; I only know that it did," was the contradictory, almost absurd, reply.

"What was the 原因（となる） of the quarrel you speak of between your husband and yourself? You see, I must know the exact truth and all the truth to be of any 援助 to you."

"It was—it was about the care I gave, or didn't give, the baby. I feel awfully to have to say it, but George did not think I did my 十分な 義務 by the child. He said there was no need of its crying so; that if I gave it the proper attention it would not keep the 隣人s and himself awake half the night. And I—I got angry and 主張するd that I did the best I could; that the child was 自然に fretful and that if he wasn't 満足させるd with my way of looking after it, he might try his. All of which was very wrong and 不当な on my part, as 証言，証人／目撃する the awful 罰 which followed."

"And what made you get up and leave him?"

"The growl he gave me in reply. When I heard that, I bounded out of bed and said I was going to the spare room to sleep; and if the baby cried he might just try what he could do himself to stop it."

"And he answered?"

"This, just this—I shall never forget his words as long as I live—'If you go, you need not 推定する／予想する me to let you in again no 事柄 what happens.'"

"He said that?"

"And locked the door after me. You see I could not tell all that."

"It might have been better if you had. It was such a natural quarrel and so unprovocative of actual 悲劇."

Mrs. Hammond was silent. It was not difficult to see that she had no very keen 悔いるs for her husband 本人自身で. But then he was not a very estimable man nor in any 尊敬（する）・点 her equal.

"You were not happy with him," Violet 投機・賭けるd to 発言／述べる.

"I was not a fully contented woman. But for all that he had no 原因（となる） to complain of me except for the 推論する／理由 I have について言及するd. I was not a very intelligent mother. But if the baby were living now—O, if he were living now—with what devotion I should care for him."

She was on her feet, her 武器 were raised, her 直面する 情熱的な with feeling. Violet, gazing at her, heaved a little sigh. It was perhaps in keeping with the 状況／情勢, perhaps extraneous to it, but whatever its source, it 示すd a change in her manner. With no その上の check upon her sympathy, she said very softly:

"It is 井戸／弁護士席 with the child."

The mother 強化するd, swayed, and then burst into wild weeping.

"But not with me," she cried, "not with me. I am desolate and bereft. I have not even a home in which to hide my grief and no prospect of one."

"But," interposed Violet, "surely your husband left you something? You cannot be やめる penniless?"

"My husband left nothing," was the answer, uttered without bitterness, but with all the hardness of fact. "He had 負債s. I shall 支払う／賃金 those 負債s. When these and other necessary expenses are （負債など）支払うd, there will be but little left. He made no secret of the fact that he lived の近くに up to his means. That is why he was induced to take on a life 保険. Not a friend of his but knows his improvidence. I—I have not even jewels. I have only my 決意 and an 絶対の 有罪の判決 as to the real nature of my husband's death."

"What is the 指名する of the man you 内密に believe to have 発射 your husband from the trellis?"

Mrs. Hammond told her.

It was a new one to Violet. She said so and then asked:

"What else can you tell me about him?"

"Nothing, but that he is a very dark man and has a club-foot."

"Oh, what a mistake you've made."

"Mistake? Yes, I 認める that."

"I mean in not giving this last bit of （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） at once to the police. A man can be identified by such a defect. Even his footsteps can be traced. He might have been 設立する that very day. Now, what have we to go upon?"

"You are 権利, but not 推定する／予想するing to have any difficulty about the 保険 money I thought it would be generous in me to keep still. Besides, this is only surmise on my part. I feel 確かな that my husband was 発射 by another 手渡す than his own, but I know of no way of 証明するing it. Do you?"

Then Violet talked 本気で with her, explaining how their only hope lay in the 発見 of a second 弾丸 in the room which had already been ransacked for this very 目的 and without the 影をつくる／尾行する of a result.

A tea, a musicale, and an evening dance kept Violet Strange in a whirl for the 残りの人，物 of the day. No brighter 注目する，もくろむ nor more contagious wit lent brilliance to these occasions, but with the passing of the midnight hour no one who had seen her in the 炎 of electric lights would have 認めるd this favoured child of fortune in the earnest 人物／姿／数字 sitting in the obscurity of an up-town apartment, 熟考する／考慮するing the 塀で囲むs, the 天井s, and the 床に打ち倒すs by the 薄暗い light of a lowered gas-jet. Violet Strange in society was a very different person from Violet Strange under the 緊張 of her secret and peculiar work.

She had told them at home that she was going to spend the night with a friend; but only her old coachman knew who that friend was. Therefore a very natural sense of 犯罪 mingled with her emotions at finding herself alone on a scene whose gruesome mystery she could solve only by identifying herself with the place and the man who had 死なせる／死ぬd there.

解任するing from her mind all thought of self, she strove to think as he thought, and 行為／法令／行動する as he 行為／法令／行動するd on the night when he 設立する himself (a man of but little courage) left in this room with an 病んでいる child.

At 半端物s with himself, his wife, and かもしれない with the child 叫び声をあげるing away in its crib, what would he be apt to do in his 現在の 緊急? Nothing at first, but as the 叫び声をあげるing continued he would remember the old tales of fathers walking the 床に打ち倒す at night with crying babies, and 急いで to follow 控訴. Violet, in her 苦悩 to reach his inmost thought, crossed to where the crib had stood, and, taking that as a start, began pacing the room in search of the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す from which a 弾丸, if 発射, would ちらりと見ること aside from the mirror in the direction of the window. (Not that she was ready to 受託する this theory of Mrs. Hammond, but that she did not wish to 完全に 解任する it without putting it to the 実験（する）.)

She 設立する it in an 予期しない ４半期/4分の1 of the room and much nearer the bed-長，率いる than where his 団体／死体 was 設立する. This, which might seem to 混乱させる 事柄s, served, on the contrary to 除去する from the 事例／患者 one of its most serious difficulties. Standing here, he was within reach of the pillow under which his ピストル lay hidden, and if startled, as his wife believed him to have been by a noise at the other end of the room, had but to crouch and reach behind him ーするために find himself 武装した and ready for a possible 侵入者.

Imitating his 活動／戦闘 in this as in other things, she had herself crouched low at the 病人の枕元 and was on the point of 身を引くing her 手渡す from under the pillow, when a new surprise checked her movement and held her 直す／買収する，八百長をするd in her position, with 注目する，もくろむs 星／主役にするing straight at the 隣接するing 塀で囲む. She had seen there what he must have seen in making this same turn—the dark 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業s of the opposite window-でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れる 輪郭（を描く）d in the mirror—and understood at once what had happened. In the nervousness and terror of the moment, George Hammond had mistaken this reflection of the window for the window itself, and 発射 impulsively at the man he undoubtedly saw covering him from the trellis without. But while this explained the 粉々にするing of the mirror, how about the other and still more 決定的な question, of where the 弾丸 went afterward? Was the angle at which it had been 解雇する／砲火／射撃d 激烈な／緊急の enough to send it out of a window diagonally …に反対するd? No; even if the ピストル had been held closer to the man 解雇する／砲火／射撃ing it than she had 推論する／理由 to believe, the angle still would be oblique enough to carry it on to the その上の 塀で囲む.

But no 調印する of any such 衝撃 had been discovered on this 塀で囲む. その結果, the 軍隊 of the 弾丸 had been expended before reaching it, and when it fell—

Here, her ちらりと見ること, slowly traveling along the 床に打ち倒す, impetuously paused. It had reached the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す where the two 団体／死体s had been 設立する, and unconsciously her 注目する，もくろむs 残り／休憩（する）d there, conjuring up the picture of the bleeding father and the strangled child. How piteous and how dreadful it all was. If she could only understand—Suddenly she rose straight up, 星／主役にするing and immovable in the 薄暗い light. Had the idea—the explanation—the only possible explanation covering the whole phenomena come to her at last?

It would seem so, for as she so stood, a look of 有罪の判決 settled over her features, and with this look, 証拠s of a horror which for all her 急速な／放蕩な 蓄積するing knowledge of life and its 可能性s made her appear very small and very helpless.

A half-hour later, when Mrs. Hammond, in her 苦悩 at 審理，公聴会 nothing more from 行方不明になる Strange, opened the door of her room, it was to find, lying on the 辛勝する／優位 of the sill, the little 探偵，刑事's card with these words あわてて written across it:

I do not feel 同様に as I could wish, and so have telephoned to my own coachman to come and take me home. I will either see or 令状 you within a few days. But do not 許す yourself to hope. I pray you do not 許す yourself the least hope; the 結果 is still very problematical.

When Violet's 雇用者 entered his office the next morning it was to find a 隠すd 人物／姿／数字 を待つing him which he at once 認めるd as that of his little 副. She was slow in 解除するing her 隠す and when it finally （機の）カム 解放する／自由な he felt a momentary 疑問 as to his 知恵 in giving her just such a 事柄 as this to 調査／捜査する. He was やめる sure of his mistake when he saw her 直面する, it was so drawn and pitiful.

"You have failed," said he.

"Of that you must 裁判官," she answered; and 製図／抽選 近づく she whispered in his ear.

"No!" he cried in his amazement.

"Think," she murmured, "think. Only so can all the facts be accounted for."

"I will look into it; I will certainly look into it," was his earnest reply. "If you are 権利—But never mind that. Go home and take a horseback ride in the Park. When I have news in regard to this I will let you know. Till then forget it all. Hear me, I 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 you to forget everything but your balls and your parties."

And Violet obeyed him.

Some few days after this, the に引き続いて 声明 appeared in all the papers:

"借りがあるing to some remarkable work done by the 会社／堅い of — & —, the 井戸／弁護士席-known 私的な 探偵，刑事 機関, the （人命などを）奪う，主張する made by Mrs. George Hammond against the Shuler Life 保険 Company is likely to be 許すd without その上の litigation. As our readers will remember, the contestant has 主張するd from the first that the 弾丸 原因（となる）ing her husband's death （機の）カム from another ピストル than the one 設立する clutched in his own 手渡す. But while 推論する／理由s were not 欠如（する）ing to 立証する this 主張, the 失敗 to discover more than the 論争d 跡をつける of a second 弾丸 led to a 判決 of 自殺, and a 拒絶 of the company to 支払う／賃金.

"But now that 弾丸 has been 設立する. And where? In the most startling place in the world, viz.: in the larynx of the child 設立する lying dead upon the 床に打ち倒す beside his father, strangled as was supposed by the 負わせる of that father's arm. The theory is, and there seems to be 非，不，無 other, that the father, 審理，公聴会 a 怪しげな noise at the window, 始める，決める 負かす／撃墜する the child he was endeavouring to soothe and made for the bed and his own ピストル, and, mistaking a reflection of the 暗殺者 for the 暗殺者 himself, sent his 発射 sidewise at a mirror just as the other let go the 誘発する／引き起こす which drove a 類似の 弾丸 into his breast. The course of the one was straight and 致命的な and that of the other deflected. Striking the mirror at an oblique angle, the 弾丸 fell to the 床に打ち倒す where it was 選ぶd up by the はうing child, and, as was most natural, thrust at once into his mouth. Perhaps it felt hot to the little tongue; perhaps the child was 簡単に 脅すd by some convulsive movement of the father who evidently spent his last moment in an endeavour to reach the child, but, whatever the 原因（となる）, in the quick gasp it gave, the 弾丸 was drawn into the larynx, strangling him.

"That the father's arm, in his last struggle, should have fallen 直接／まっすぐに across the little throat is one of those anomalies which confounds 推論する／理由 and 誤って導くs 司法（官） by stopping 調査 at the very point where truth lies and mystery disappears.

"Mrs. Hammond is to be congratulated that there are 探偵，刑事s who do not give too much credence to outward 外見s."

We 推定する／予想する soon to hear of the 逮捕（する） of the man who sped home the death-取引，協定ing 弾丸.

End Of Problem II

Problem III
An Intangible 手がかり（を与える）

"Have you 熟考する／考慮するd the 事例／患者?"

"Not I."

"Not 熟考する／考慮するd the 事例／患者 which for the last few days has 供給するd the papers with such 目だつ headlines?"

"I do not read the papers. I have not looked at one in a whole week."

"行方不明になる Strange, your social 約束／交戦s must be of a very 圧力（をかける）ing nature just now?"

"They are."

"And your 商売／仕事 sense in （一時的）停止?"

"How so?"

"You would not ask if you had read the papers."

To this she made no reply save by a slight 投げ上げる／ボディチェックする of her pretty 長，率いる. If her 雇用者 felt nettled by this show of 無関心／冷淡, he did not betray it save by the rapidity of his トンs as, without その上の preamble and かもしれない without real excuse, he proceeded to lay before her the 事例／患者 in question. "Last Tuesday night a woman was 殺人d in this city; an old woman, in a lonely house where she has lived for years. Perhaps you remember this house? It 占領するs a not inconspicuous 場所／位置 in Seventeenth Street—a house of the olden time?"

"No, I do not remember."

The extreme carelessness of 行方不明になる Strange's トン would have been 致命的な to her socially; but then, she would never have used it socially. This they both knew, yet he smiled with his customary indulgence.

"Then I will 述べる it."

She looked around for a 議長，司会を務める and sank into it. He did the same.

"It has a fanlight over the 前線 door."

She remained impassive.

"And two old-fashioned （土地などの）細長い一片s of parti-coloured glass on either 味方する."

"And a knocker between its パネル盤s which may bring money some day."

"Oh, you do remember! I thought you would, 行方不明になる Strange."

"Yes. Fanlights over doors are becoming very rare in New York."

"Very 井戸／弁護士席, then. That house was the scene of Tuesday's 悲劇. The woman who has lived there in 孤独 for years was foully 殺人d. I have since heard that the people who knew her best have always 心配するd some such violent end for her. She never 許すd maid or friend to remain with her after five in the afternoon; yet she had money—some think a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定—always in the house."

"I am 利益／興味d in the house, not in her."

"Yet, she was a character—as 十分な of whims and crotchets as a nut is of meat. Her death was horrible. She fought—her dress was torn from her 団体／死体 in rags. This happened, you see, before her hour for retiring; some think as 早期に as six in the afternoon. And"—here he made a 早い gesture to catch Violet's wandering attention—"in spite of this struggle; in spite of the fact that she was dragged from room to room—that her person was searched—and everything in the house searched—that drawers were pulled out of bureaus—doors wrenched off of cupboards—磁器 粉砕するd upon the 床に打ち倒す—whole 棚上げにするs denuded and not a 位置／汚点／見つけ出す from cellar to garret left unransacked, no direct 手がかり（を与える） to the 悪党／犯人 has been 設立する—nothing that gives any idea of his personality save his 陳列する，発揮する of strength and 広大な／多数の／重要な cupidity. The police have even deigned to 協議する me,—an unusual 手続き—but I could find nothing, either. 証拠s of fiendish 目的 abound—of relentless search—but no 手がかり（を与える） to the man himself. It's uncommon, isn't it, not to have any 手がかり（を与える）?"

"I suppose so." 行方不明になる Strange hated 殺人s and it was with difficulty she could be brought to discuss them. But she was not going to be let off; not this time.

"You see," he proceeded insistently, "it's not only mortifying to the police but disappointing to the 圧力（をかける）, 特に as few reporters believe in the No-thoroughfare 商売／仕事. They say, and we cannot but agree with them, that no such struggle could take place and no such repeated goings to and fro through the house without some 痕跡 存在 left by which to connect this 罪，犯罪 with its daring 悪党／犯人."

Still she 星／主役にするd 負かす／撃墜する at her 手渡すs—those little 手渡すs so white and ぱたぱたするing, so seemingly helpless under the 負わせる of their many （犯罪の）一味s, and yet so slyly 有能な.

"She must have queer 隣人s," （機の）カム at last, from 行方不明になる Strange's 気が進まない lips. "Didn't they hear or see anything of all this?"

"She has no 隣人s—that is, after half-past five o'clock. There's a printing 設立 on one 味方する of her, a 砂漠d mansion on the other 味方する, and nothing but 倉庫／問屋s 支援する and 前線. There was no one to notice what took place in her small dwelling after the printing house was の近くにd. She was the most 勇敢な or the most foolish of women to remain there as she did. But nothing except death could budge her. She was born in the room where she died; was married in the one where she worked; saw husband, father, mother, and five sisters carried out in turn to their 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大なs through the door with the fanlight over the 最高の，を越す—and these memories held her."

"You are trying to 利益／興味 me in the woman. Don't."

"No, I'm not trying to 利益／興味 you in her, only trying to explain her. There was another 推論する／理由 for her remaining where she did so long after all 居住（者）s had left the 封鎖する. She had a 商売／仕事."

"Oh!"

"She embroidered monograms for 罰金 ladies."

"She did? But you needn't look at me like that. She never embroidered any for me."

"No? She did first-class work. I saw some of it. 行方不明になる Strange, if I could get you into that house for ten minutes—not to see her but to 選ぶ up the loose intangible thread which I am sure is floating around in it somewhere—wouldn't you go?"

Violet slowly rose—a movement which he followed to the letter.

"Must I 表明する in words the 限界 I have 始める，決める for myself in our 事件／事情／状勢?" she asked. "When, for 推論する／理由s I have never thought myself called upon to explain, I 同意d to help you a little now and then with some 事柄 where a woman's tact and knowledge of the social world might tell without offence to herself or others, I never thought it would be necessary for me to 明言する／公表する that 誘惑 must stop with such 事例／患者s, or that I should not be asked to touch the sordid or the 血まみれの. But it seems I was mistaken, and that I must stoop to be explicit. The woman who was killed on Tuesday might have 利益／興味d me 大いに as an embroiderer, but as a 犠牲者, not at all. What do you see in me, or 行方不明になる in me, that you should drag me into an atmosphere of low-負かす／撃墜する 罪，犯罪?"

"Nothing, 行方不明になる Strange. You are by nature, 同様に as by 産む／飼育するing, very far 除去するd from everything of the 肉親，親類d. But you will 許す me to 示唆する that no 罪，犯罪 is low-負かす／撃墜する which makes imperative 需要・要求する upon the intellect and intuitive sense of its 捜査官／調査官. Only the most delicate touch can feel and 持つ／拘留する the thread I've just spoken of, and you have the most delicate touch I know."

"Do not 試みる／企てる to flatter me. I have no fancy for 扱うing befouled spider webs. Besides, if I had—if such elusive filaments fascinated me—how could I, 井戸／弁護士席-known in person and 指名する, enter upon such a scene without prejudice to our 相互の compact?"

"行方不明になる Strange"—she had reseated herself, but so far he had failed to follow her example (an ignoring of the subtle hint that her 利益／興味 might yet be caught, which seemed to annoy her a trifle), "I should not even have 示唆するd such a 可能性 had I not seen a way of introducing you there without 危険 to your position or 地雷. の中で the boxes piled upon Mrs. Doolittle's （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する—boxes of finished work, most of them 演説（する）／住所d and ready for 配達／演説／出産—was one on which could be seen the 指名する of—shall I について言及する it?"

"Not 地雷? You don't mean 地雷? That would be too 半端物—too ridiculously 半端物. I should not understand a coincidence of that 肉親，親類d; no, I should not, notwithstanding the fact that I have lately sent out such work to be done."

"Yet it was your 指名する, very 明確に and 正確に written—your whole 指名する, 行方不明になる Strange. I saw and read it myself."

"But I gave the order to Madame Pirot on Fifth Avenue. How （機の）カム my things to be 設立する in the house of this woman of whose horrible death we have been talking?"

"Did you suppose that Madame Pirot did such work with her own 手渡すs?—or even had it done in her own 設立? Mrs. Doolittle was universally 雇うd. She worked for a dozen 会社／堅いs. You will find the biggest 指名するs on most of her 一括s. But on this one—I allude to the one 演説（する）／住所d to you—there was more to be seen than the 指名する. These words were written on it in another 手渡す. Send without 開始. This struck the police as 怪しげな; 十分に so, at least, for them to 願望（する） your presence at the house as soon as you can make it convenient."

"To open the box?"

"正確に／まさに."

The curl of 行方不明になる Strange's disdainful lip was a sight to see.

"You wrote those words yourself," she coolly 観察するd. "While someone's 支援する was turned, you whipped out your pencil and—"

"訴える手段／行楽地d to a very pardonable subterfuge 高度に 役立つ to the public's good. But never mind that. Will you go?"

行方不明になる Strange became suddenly demure.

"I suppose I must," she grudgingly 譲歩するd. "However 得るd, a 召喚するs from the police cannot be ignored even by Peter Strange's daughter."

Another man might have 陳列する，発揮するd his 勝利 by smile or gesture; but this one had learned his 役割 too 井戸／弁護士席. He 簡単に said:

"Very good. Shall it be at once? I have a taxi at the door."

But she failed to see the necessity of any such hurry. With sudden dignity she replied:

"That won't do. If I go to this house it must be under suitable 条件s. I shall have to ask my brother to …を伴って me."

"Your brother!"

"Oh, he's 安全な. He—he knows."

"Your brother knows?" Her 訪問者, with いっそう少なく 支配（する）／統制する than usual, betrayed very 率直に his uneasiness.

"He does and—認可するs. But that's not what 利益／興味s us now, only so far as it makes it possible for me to go with propriety to that dreadful house."

A formal 屈服する from the other and the words:

"They may 推定する／予想する you, then. Can you say when?"

"Within the next hour. But it will be a useless 譲歩 on my part," she pettishly complained. "A place that has been gone over by a dozen 探偵，刑事s is apt to be 小衝突d clean of its cobwebs, even if such ever 存在するd."

"That's the difficulty," he 定評のある; and did not dare to 追加する another word; she was at that particular moment so very much the 広大な／多数の／重要な lady, and so little his confidential スパイ／執行官.

He might have been いっそう少なく impressed, however, by this sudden 仮定／引き受けること of manner, had he been so fortunate as to have seen how she 雇うd the three ４半期/4分の1s of an hour's 延期する for which she had asked.

She read those neglected newspapers, 特に the one 含む／封じ込めるing the に引き続いて 高度に coloured narration of this 恐ろしい 罪，犯罪:

"A door ajar—an empty hall—a line of 悪意のある looking blotches 場内取引員／株価 a 有罪の step diagonally across the flagging—silence—and an unmistakable odour repugnant to all humanity,—such were the 指示，表示する物s which met the 注目する，もくろむs of Officer O'Leary on his first 一連の会議、交渉／完成する last night, and led to the 発見 of a 殺人 which will long thrill the city by its mystery and horror.

"Both the house and the 犠牲者 are 井戸／弁護士席 known." Here followed a description of the same and of Mrs. Doolittle's manner of life in her 古代の home, which Violet hurriedly passed over to come to the に引き続いて:

"As far as one can 裁判官 from 外見s, the 罪，犯罪 happened in this wise: Mrs. Doolittle had been in her kitchen, as the tea-kettle 設立する singing on the stove goes to 証明する, and was coming 支援する through her bedroom, when the wretch, who had stolen in by the 前線 door which, to save steps, she was unfortunately in the habit of leaving on the latch till all 可能性 of 顧客s for the day was over, sprang upon her from behind and dealt her a swinging blow with the poker he had caught up from the hearthstone.

"Whether the struggle which 続いて起こるd followed すぐに upon this first attack or （機の）カム later, it will take 医療の 専門家s to 決定する. But, whenever it did occur, the fierceness of its character is shown by the 支配する taken upon her throat and the traces of 血 which are to be seen all over the house. If the wretch had lugged her into her workroom and thence to the kitchen, and thence 支援する to the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す of first 強襲，強姦, the 証拠s could not have been more 恐ろしい. Bits of her 着せる／賦与するing torn off by a ruthless 手渡す, lay scattered over all these 床に打ち倒すs. In her bedroom, where she finally breathed her last, there could be seen mingled with these a number of large but worthless glass beads; and の近くに against one of the base-boards, the string which had held them, as shown by the few remaining beads still 粘着するing to it. If in pulling the string from her neck he had hoped to light upon some 価値のある booty, his fury at his 失望 is evident. You can almost see the frenzy with which he flung the would-be necklace at the 塀で囲む, and kicked about and stamped upon its 速く rolling beads.

"Booty! That was what he was after; to find and carry away the poor needlewoman's supposed hoardings. If the scene baffles description—if, as some believe, he dragged her yet living from 位置／汚点／見つけ出す to 位置／汚点／見つけ出す, 需要・要求するing （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） as to her places of concealment under 脅し of repeated blows, and, finally baffled, dealt the finishing 一打／打撃 and proceeded on the search alone, no greater 荒廃 could have taken place in this poor woman's house or 影響s. Yet such was his 警戒 and care for himself that he left no finger-print behind him nor any other 記念品 which could lead to personal 身元確認，身分証明. Even though his footsteps could be traced in much the order I have について言及するd, they were of so indeterminate and shapeless a character as to 伝える little to the 知能 of the 捜査官／調査官.

"That these smears (they could not be called 足跡s) not only crossed the hall but appeared in more than one place on the staircase 証明するs that he did not 限定する his search to the lower storey; and perhaps one of the most 利益／興味ing features of the 事例／患者 lies in the 指示，表示する物s given by these 示すs of the 激怒（する）ing course he took through these upper rooms. As the …を伴ってing diagram will show [we omit the diagram] he went first into the large 前線 議会, thence to the 後部 where we find two rooms, one unfinished and filled with 蓄積するd stuff most of which he left lying loose upon the 床に打ち倒す, and the other plastered, and 含む／封じ込めるing a window 開始 upon an alley-way at the 味方する, but empty of all furniture and without even a carpet on the 明らかにする boards.

"Why he should have entered the latter place, and why, having entered he should have crossed to the window, will be plain to those who have 熟考する／考慮するd the 条件s. The 前線 議会 windows were tightly shuttered, the attic ones cumbered with boxes and 保護物，者d from approach by old bureaus and discarded 議長，司会を務めるs. This one only was 解放する／自由な and, although darkened by the proximity of the house 隣人ing it across the alley, was the only 位置／汚点／見つけ出す on the storey where 十分な light could be had at this late hour for the examination of any 反対する of whose value he was doubtful. That he had come across such an 反対する and had brought it to this window for some such 目的 is very satisfactorily 論証するd by the 発見 of a worn out wallet of 古代の make lying on the 床に打ち倒す 直接／まっすぐに in 前線 of this window—a proof of his cupidity but also proof of his ill-luck. For this wallet, when 解除するd and opened, was 設立する to 含む／封じ込める two hundred or more dollars in old 法案s, which, if not the 十分な hoard of their industrious owner, was certainly 価値（がある） the taking by one who had 危険d his neck for the 単独の 目的 of 窃盗.

"This wallet, and the flight of the 殺害者 without it, give to this 事件／事情／状勢, さもなければ 簡単に 残虐な, a 劇の 利益／興味 which will be 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がるd not only by the very able 探偵，刑事s already hot upon the chase, but by all other 問い合わせing minds anxious to solve a mystery of which so estimable a woman has been the unfortunate 犠牲者. A problem is 現在のd to the police—"

There Violet stopped.

When, not long after, the superb リムジン of Peter Strange stopped before the little house in Seventeenth Street, it 原因（となる）d a veritable sensation, not only in the curiosity-mongers ぐずぐず残る on the sidewalk, but to the two persons within—the officer on guard and a belated reporter.

Though dressed in her plainest 控訴, Violet Strange looked much too 流行の／上流の and far too young and thoughtless to be 観察するd, without emotion, entering a scene of hideous and 残虐な 罪，犯罪. Even the young man who …を伴ってd her 約束d to bring a most incongruous element into this atmosphere of 犯罪 and horror, and, as the 探偵，刑事 on guard whispered to the man beside him, might much better have been left behind in the car.

But Violet was 広大な／多数の／重要な for the proprieties and young Arthur followed her in.

Her 入り口 was a クーデター du theatre. She had 解除するd her 隠す in crossing the sidewalk and her 利益／興味ing features and general 空気／公表する of timidity were very fetching. As the man 持つ／拘留するing open the door 公式文書，認めるd the impression made upon his companion, he muttered with sly facetiousness:

"You think you'll show her nothing; but I'm ready to bet a fiver that she'll want to see it all and that you'll show it to her."

The 探偵，刑事's grin was expressive, notwithstanding the shrug with which he tried to carry it off.

And Violet? The hall into which she now stepped from the most vivid sunlight had never been considered even in its palmiest days as 所有するing 元気づける even of the stately 肉親，親類d. The 恐ろしい green light infused through it by the coloured glass on either 味方する of the doorway seemed to 約束 yet more dismal things beyond.

"Must I go in there?" she asked, pointing, with an admirable 模擬実験／偽ること of nervous excitement, to a half-shut door at her left. "Is there where it happened? Arthur, do you suppose that there is where it happened?"

"No, no, 行方不明になる," the officer made haste to 保証する her. "If you are 行方不明になる Strange" (Violet 屈服するd), "I need hardly say that the woman was struck in her bedroom. The door beside you leads into the parlour, or as she would have called it, her work-room. You needn't be afraid of going in there. You will see nothing but the disorder of her boxes. They were pretty 井戸／弁護士席 pulled about. Not all of them though," he 追加するd, watching her as closely as the 薄暗い light permitted. "There is one which gives no 調印する of having been tampered with. It was done up in wrapping paper and is 演説（する）／住所d to you, which in itself would not have seemed worthy of our attention had not these lines been scribbled on it in a man's handwriting: 'Send without 開始.'"

"How 半端物!" exclaimed the little minx with 広範囲にわたって opened 注目する，もくろむs and an 空気／公表する of guileless innocence. "Whatever can it mean? Nothing serious I am sure, for the woman did not even know me. She was 雇うd to do this work by Madame Pirot."

"Didn't you know that it was to be done here?"

"No. I thought Madame Pirot's own girls did her embroidery for her."

"So that you were surprised—"

"Wasn't I!"

"To get our message."

"I didn't know what to make of it."

The earnest, half-負傷させるd look with which she uttered this disclaimer, did its 任命するd work. The 探偵，刑事 受託するd her for what she seemed and, oblivious to the reporter's satirical gesture, crossed to the work-room door, which he threw wide open with the 発言／述べる:

"I should be glad to have you open that box in our presence. It is undoubtedly all 権利, but we wish to be sure. You know what the box should 含む／封じ込める?"

"Oh, yes, indeed; pillow-事例／患者s and sheets, with a big S embroidered on them."

"Very 井戸／弁護士席. Shall I undo the string for you?"

"I shall be much 強いるd," said she, her 注目する，もくろむ flashing quickly about the room before settling 負かす／撃墜する upon the knot he was deftly 緩和するing.

Her brother, gazing indifferently in from the doorway, hardly noticed this look; but the reporter at his 支援する did, though he failed to （悪事，秘密などを）発見する its 侵入するing 質.

"Your 指名する is on the other 味方する," 観察するd the 探偵，刑事 as he drew away the string and turned the 一括 over.

The smile which just 解除するd the corner of her lips was not in answer to this 発言／述べる, but to her 承認 of her 雇用者's handwriting in the words under her 指名する: Send without 開始. She had not misjudged him.

"The cover you may like to take off yourself," 示唆するd the officer, as he 解除するd the box out of its wrapper.

"Oh, I don't mind. There's nothing to be ashamed of in embroidered linen. Or perhaps that is not what you are looking for?"

No one answered. All were busy watching her whip off the lid and 解除する out the pile of sheets and pillow-事例／患者s with which the box was closely packed.

"Shall I 広げる them?" she asked.

The 探偵，刑事 nodded.

Taking out the topmost sheet, she shook it open. Then the next and the next till she reached the 底（に届く） of the box. Nothing of a criminating nature （機の）カム to light. The box 同様に as its contents was without mystery of any 肉親，親類d. This was not an 予期しない result of course, but the smile with which she began to refold the pieces and throw them 支援する into the box, 明らかにする／漏らすd one of her dimples which was almost as dangerous to the casual 観察者／傍聴者 as when it 明らかにする／漏らすd both.

"There," she exclaimed, "you see! 世帯 linen 正確に／まさに as I said. Now may I go home?"

"Certainly, 行方不明になる Strange."

The 探偵，刑事 stole a sly ちらりと見ること at the reporter. She was not going in for the horrors then after all.

But the reporter abated nothing of his knowing 空気／公表する, for while she spoke of going, she made no move に向かって doing so, but continued to look about the room till her ちらりと見ることs finally settled on a long dark curtain shutting off an 隣接するing room.

"There's where she lies, I suppose," she feelingly exclaimed. "And not one of you knows who killed her. Somehow, I cannot understand that. Why don't you know when that's what you're 雇うd for?" The innocence with which she uttered this was astonishing. The 探偵，刑事 began to look sheepish and the reporter turned aside to hide his smile. Whether in another moment either would have spoken no one can say, for, with a mock consciousness of having said something foolish, she caught up her parasol from the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and made a start for the door.

But of course she looked 支援する.

"I was wondering," she recommenced, with a half wistful, half 思索的な 空気／公表する, "whether I should ask to have a peep at the place where it all happened."

The reporter chuckled behind the pencil-end he was chewing, but the officer 持続するd his solemn 空気／公表する, for which 行為／法令／行動する of self-抑制 he was undoubtedly 感謝する when in another minute she gave a quick impulsive shudder not altogether assumed, and 熱心に 追加するd: "But I couldn't stand the sight; no, I couldn't! I'm an awful coward when it comes to things like that. Nothing in all the world would induce me to look at the woman or her room. But I should like—" here both her dimples （機の）カム into play though she could not be said 正確に／まさに to smile—"just one little look upstairs, where he went poking about so long without any 恐れる it seems of 存在 interrupted. Ever since I've read about it I have seen, in my mind, a picture of his wicked 人物／姿／数字 こそこそ動くing from room to room, 涙／ほころびing open drawers and flinging out the contents of closets just to find a little money—a little, little money! I shall not sleep to-night just for wondering how those high up attic rooms really look."

Who could dream that 支援する of this 陳列する，発揮する of mingled childishness and audacity there lay hidden 目的, intellect, and a keen knowledge of human nature. Not the two men who listened to this seemingly irresponsible chatter. To them she was a child to be humoured and humour her they did. The dainty feet which had already 設立する their way to that 暗い／優うつな staircase were 許すd to 上がる, followed it is true by those of the officer who did not dare to smile 支援する at the reporter because of the brother's watchful and 非，不，無 too 懐柔的な 注目する，もくろむ.

At the stair 長，率いる she paused to look 支援する.

"I don't see those horrible 示すs which the papers 述べる as running all along the lower hall and up these stairs."

"No, 行方不明になる Strange; they have 徐々に been rubbed out, but you will find some still showing on these upper 床に打ち倒すs."

"Oh! oh! where? You 脅す me—脅す me horribly! But—but—if you don't mind, I should like to see."

Why should not a man on a tedious 職業 amuse himself? 操縦するing her over to the small room in the 後部, he pointed 負かす／撃墜する at the boards. She gave one look and then stepped gingerly in.

"Just look!" she cried; "a whole string of 示すs going straight from door to window. They have no 形態／調整, have they,—just blotches? I wonder why one of them is so much larger than the 残り／休憩（する）?"

This was no new question. It was one which everybody who went into the room was sure to ask, there was such a difference in the size and 外見 of the 示す nearest the window. The 推論する／理由—井戸／弁護士席, minds were divided about that, and no one had a 満足な theory. The 探偵，刑事 therefore kept 慎重に silent.

This did not seem to 感情を害する／違反する 行方不明になる Strange. On the contrary it gave her an 適切な時期 to babble away to her heart's content.

"One, two, three, four, five, six," she counted, with a shudder at every count. "And one of them bigger than the others." She might have 追加するd, "It is the 追跡する of one foot, and strangely, intermingled at that," but she did not, though we may be やめる sure that she 公式文書，認めるd the fact. "And where, just where did the old wallet 落ちる? Here? or here?"

She had moved as she spoke, so that in uttering the last "here," she stood 直接／まっすぐに before the window. The surprise she received there nearly made her forget the part she was playing. From the character of the light in the room, she had 推定する／予想するd, on looking out, to 直面する a 近づく-by 塀で囲む, but not a window in that 塀で囲む. Yet that was what she saw 直接／まっすぐに 直面するing her from across the old-fashioned alley separating this house from its 隣人; twelve unshuttered and uncurtained panes through which she caught a darkened 見解（をとる） of a room almost as forlorn and devoid of furniture as the one in which she then stood.

When やめる sure of herself, she let a 確かな 部分 of her surprise appear.

"Why, look!" she cried, "if you can't see 権利 in next door! What a lonesome-looking place! From its desolate 外見 I should think the house やめる empty."

"And it is. That's the old Shaffer homestead. It's been empty for a year."

"Oh, empty!" And she turned away, with the most inconsequent 空気／公表する in the world, crying out as her 指名する rang up the stair, "There's Arthur calling. I suppose he thinks I've been here long enough. I'm sure I'm very much 強いるd to you, officer. I really shouldn't have slept a wink to-night, if I hadn't been given a peep at these rooms, which I had imagined so different." And with one 付加 ちらりと見ること over her shoulder, that seemed to 侵入する both windows and the desolate space beyond, she ran quickly out and 負かす／撃墜する in 返答 to her brother's 繰り返し言うd call.

"運動 quickly!—as quickly as the 法律 許すs, to Hiram Brown's office in Duane Street."

Arrived at the 演説（する）／住所 指名するd, she went in alone to see Mr. Brown. He was her father's lawyer and a family friend.

Hardly waiting for his affectionate 迎える／歓迎するing, she cried out quickly. "Tell me how I can learn anything about the old Shaffer house in Seventeenth Street. Now, don't look so surprised. I have very good 推論する／理由s for my request and—and—I'm in an awful hurry."

"But—"

"I know, I know; there's been a dreadful 悲劇 next door to it; but it's about the Shaffer house itself I want some （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状）. Has it an スパイ／執行官, a—"

"Of course it has an スパイ／執行官, and here is his 指名する."

Mr. Brown 現在のd her with a card on which he had あわてて written both 指名する and 演説（する）／住所.

She thanked him, dropped him a mocking curtsey 十分な of charm, whispered "Don't tell father," and was gone.

Her manner to the man she next interviewed was very different. As soon as she saw him she 沈下するd into her usual society manner. With just a touch of the conceit of the successful debutante, she 発表するd herself as 行方不明になる Strange of Seventy-second Street. Her 商売／仕事 with him was in regard to the possible renting of the Shaffer house. She had an old lady friend who was desirous of living downtown.

In passing through Seventeenth Street, she had noticed that the old Shaffer house was standing empty and had been すぐに struck with the advantages it 所有するd for her 年輩の friend's occupancy. Could it be that the house was for rent? There was no 調印する on it to that 影響, but—etc.

His answer left her nothing to hope for.

"It is going to be torn 負かす／撃墜する," he said.

"Oh, what a pity!" she exclaimed. "Real 植民地の, isn't it! I wish I could see the rooms inside before it is 乱すd. Such doors and such dear old-fashioned mantelpieces as it must have! I just dote on the 植民地の. It brings up such pictures of the old days; weddings, you know, and parties;—all so different from ours and so much more 利益／興味ing."

Is it the chance 発射 that tells? いつかs. Violet had no especial 意向 in what she said save as a 序幕 to a 未解決の request, but nothing could have served her 目的 better than that one word, wedding. The スパイ／執行官 laughed and giving her his first indulgent look, 発言／述べるd genially:

"Romance is not 限定するd to those 古代の times. If you were to enter that house to-day you would come across 証拠s of a wedding as romantic as any which ever took place in all the seventy 半端物 years of its 存在. A man and a woman were married there day before yesterday who did their first 法廷，裁判所ing under its roof forty years ago. He has been married twice and she once in the interval; but the old love held 会社／堅い and now at the age of sixty and over they have come together to finish their days in peace and happiness. Or so we will hope."

"Married! married in that house and on the day that—"

She caught herself up in time. He did not notice the break.

"Yes, in memory of those old days of courtship, I suppose. They （機の）カム here about five, got the 重要なs, drove off, went through the 儀式 in that empty house, returned the 重要なs to me in my own apartment, took the steamer for Naples, and were on the sea before midnight. Do you not call that quick work 同様に as 高度に romantic?"

"Very." 行方不明になる Strange's cheek had paled. It was apt to when she was 大いに excited. "But I don't understand," she 追加するd, the moment after. "How could they do this and nobody know about it? I should have thought it would have got into the papers."

"They are 静かな people. I don't think they told their best friends. A simple 告示 in the next day's 定期刊行物s 証言するd to the fact of their marriage, but that was all. I would not have felt at liberty to について言及する the circumstances myself, if the parties were not 井戸／弁護士席 on their way to Europe."

"Oh, how glad I am that you did tell me! Such a story of constancy and the 持つ／拘留する which old 協会s have upon 極度の慎重さを要する minds! But—"

"Why, 行方不明になる? What's the 事柄? You look very much 乱すd."

"Don't you remember? 港／避難所't you thought? Something else happened that very day and almost at the same time on that 封鎖する. Something very dreadful—"

"Mrs. Doolittle's 殺人?"

"Yes. It was as 近づく as next door, wasn't it? Oh, if this happy couple had known—"

"But fortunately they didn't. Nor are they likely to, till they reach the other 味方する. You needn't 恐れる that their honeymoon will be spoiled that way."

"But they may have heard something or seen something before leaving the street. Did you notice how the gentleman looked when he returned you the 重要なs?"

"I did, and there was no cloud on his satisfaction."

"Oh, how you relieve me!" One—two dimples made their 外見 in 行方不明になる Strange's fresh, young cheeks. "井戸／弁護士席! I wish them joy. Do you mind telling me their 指名するs? I cannot think of them as actual persons without knowing their 指名するs."

"The gentleman was Constantin Amidon; the lady, Marian Shaffer. You will have to think of them now as Mr. and Mrs. Amidon."

"And I will. Thank you, Mr. Hutton, thank you very much. Next to the 楽しみ of getting the house for my friend, is that of 審理，公聴会 this charming bit of news its 関係."

She held out her 手渡す and, as he took it, 発言／述べるd:

"They must have had a clergyman and 証言，証人／目撃するs."

"Undoubtedly."

"I wish I had been one of the 証言，証人／目撃するs," she sighed sentimentally.

"They were two old men."

"Oh, no! Don't tell me that."

"Fogies; nothing いっそう少なく."

"But the clergyman? He must have been young. Surely there was some one there 有能な of 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がるing the 状況／情勢?"

"I can't say about that; I did not see the clergyman."

"Oh, 井戸／弁護士席! it doesn't 事柄." 行方不明になる Strange's manner was as nonchalant as it was charming. "We will think of him as 存在 very young."

And with a merry 投げ上げる／ボディチェックする of her 長，率いる she flitted away.

But she sobered very 速く upon entering her リムジン.

"Hello!"

"Ah, is that you?"

"Yes, I want a Marconi sent."

"A Marconi?"

"Yes, to the Cretic, which left ドッキングする／減らす／ドックに入れる the very night in which we are so 深く，強烈に 利益／興味d."

"Good. Whom to? The Captain?"

"No, to a Mrs. Constantin Amidon. But first be sure there is such a 乗客."

"Mrs.! What idea have you there?"

"Excuse my not 明言する／公表するing over the telephone. The message is to be to this 影響. Did she at any time すぐに before or after her marriage to Mr. Amidon get a glimpse of any one in the 隣接するing house? No 発言／述べるs, please. I use the telephone because I am not ready to explain myself. If she did, let her send a written description to you of that person as soon as she reaches the Azores."

"You surprise me. May I not call or hope for a line from you 早期に to-morrow?"

"I shall be busy till you get your answer."

He hung up the receiver. He 認めるd the resolute トン.

But the time （機の）カム when the 未解決の explanation was fully given to him. An answer had been returned from the steamer, favourable to Violet's hopes. Mrs. Amidon had seen such a person and would send a 十分な description of the same at the first 適切な時期. It was news to fill Violet's heart with pride; the filament of a 手がかり（を与える） which had led to this 広大な／多数の／重要な result had been so nearly invisible and had felt so like nothing in her しっかり掴む.

To her 雇用者 she 述べるd it as follows:

"When I hear or read of a 事例／患者 which 含む／封じ込めるs any baffling features, I am apt to feel some hidden chord in my nature thrill to one fact in it and not to any of the others. In this 事例／患者 the 選び出す／独身 fact which 控訴，上告d to my imagination was the dropping of the stolen wallet in that upstairs room. Why did the 有罪の man 減少（する） it? and why, having dropped it, did he not 選ぶ it up again? but one answer seemed possible. He had heard or seen something at the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す where it fell which not only alarmed him but sent him in flight from the house."

"Very good; and did you settle to your own mind the nature of that sound or that sight?"

"I did." Her manner was strangely 事務的な. No show of dimples now. "満足させるd that if any 可能性 remained of my ever doing this, it would have to be on the exact place of this occurrence or not at all, I embraced your suggestion and visited the house."

"And that room no 疑問."

"And that room. Women, somehow, seem to manage such things."

"So I've noticed, 行方不明になる Strange. And what was the result of your visit? What did you discover there?"

"This: that one of the 血 位置／汚点／見つけ出すs 場内取引員／株価 the 犯罪の's steps through the room was decidedly more pronounced than the 残り／休憩（する）; and, what was even more important, that the window out of which I was looking had its 相当するもの in the house on the opposite 味方する of the alley. In gazing through the one I was gazing through the other; and not only that, but into the darkened area of the room beyond. 即時に I saw how the latter fact might be made to explain the former one. But before I say how, let me ask if it is やめる settled の中で you that the smears on the 床に打ち倒す and stairs 示す the passage of the 犯罪の's footsteps!"

"Certainly; and very 血まみれの feet they must have been too. His shoes—or rather his one shoe—for the proof is plain that only the 権利 one left its 示す—must have become 完全に saturated to carry its traces so far."

"Do you think that any 量 of saturation would have done this? Or, if you are not ready to agree to that, that a shoe so covered with 血 could have failed to leave behind it some hint of its 形態／調整, some imprint, however faint, of heel or toe? But nowhere did it do this. We see a smear—and that is all."

"You are 権利, 行方不明になる Strange; you are always 権利. And what do you gather from this?"

She looked to see how much he 推定する／予想するd from her, and, 会合 an 注目する，もくろむ not やめる as 解放する／自由な from ironic suggestion as his words had led her to 推定する／予想する, 滞るd a little as she proceeded to say:

"My opinion is a girl's opinion, but such as it is you have the 権利 to have it. From the 指示，表示する物s について言及するd I could draw but this 結論: that the 血 which …を伴ってd the 犯罪の's footsteps was not carried through the house by his shoes;—he wore no shoes; he did not even wear stockings; probably he had 非，不，無. For 推論する／理由s which 控訴，上告d to his judgment, he went about his wicked work barefoot; and it was the 血 from his own veins and not from those of his 犠牲者 which made the 追跡する we have followed with so much 利益／興味. Do you forget those broken beads;—how he kicked them about and stamped upon them in his fury? One of them pierced the ball of his foot, and that so はっきりと that it not only spurted 血 but kept on bleeding with every step he took. さもなければ, the 追跡する would have been lost after his passage up the stairs."

"罰金!" There was no irony in the bureau-長，指導者's 注目する，もくろむ now. "You are 進歩ing, 行方不明になる Strange. 許す me, I pray, to kiss your 手渡す. It is a liberty I have never taken, but one which would 大いに relieve my 現在の 強調する／ストレス of feeling."

She 解除するd her 手渡す toward him, but it was in gesture, not in 承認 of his homage.

"Thank you," said she, "but I （人命などを）奪う，主張する no monopoly on deductions so simple as these. I have not the least 疑問 that not only yourself but every member of the 軍隊 has made the same. But there is a little 事柄 which may have escaped the police, may even have escaped you. To that I would now call your attention since through it I have been enabled, after a little necessary groping, to reach the open. You remember the one large blotch on the upper 床に打ち倒す where the man dropped the wallet? That blotch, more or いっそう少なく commingled with a fainter one, 所有するd 広大な／多数の／重要な significance for me from the first moment I saw it. How （機の）カム his foot to bleed so much more profusely at that one 位置／汚点／見つけ出す than at any other? There could be but one answer: because here a surprise met him—a surprise so startling to him in his 現在の 明言する／公表する of mind, that he gave a quick spring backward, with the result that his 負傷させるd foot （機の）カム 負かす／撃墜する suddenly and 強制的に instead of easily as in his previous 用心深い tread. And what was the surprise? I made it my 商売／仕事 to find out, and now I can tell you that it was the sight of a woman's 直面する 星／主役にするing upon him from the 隣人ing house which he had probably been told was empty. The shock 乱すd his judgment. He saw his 罪，犯罪 discovered—his 有罪の secret read, and fled in unreasoning panic. He might better have held on to his wits. It was this 陳列する，発揮する of 恐れる which led me to search after its 原因（となる）, and その結果 to discover that at this especial hour more than one person had been in the Shaffer house; that, in fact, a marriage had been celebrated there under circumstances as romantic as any we read of in 調書をとる／予約するs, and that this marriage, 個人として carried out, had been followed by an 即座の voyage of the happy couple on one of the White 星／主役にする steamers. With the 残り／休憩（する） you are conversant. I do not need to say anything about what has followed the sending of that Marconi."

"But I am going to say something about your work in this 事柄, 行方不明になる Strange. The big 探偵，刑事s about here will have to look sharp if—"

"Don't, please! Not yet." A smile 軟化するd the asperity of this interruption. "The man has yet to be caught and identified. Till that is done I cannot enjoy any one's congratulations. And you will see that all this may not be so 平易な. If no one happened to 会合，会う the desperate wretch before he had an 適切な時期 to retie his shoe-laces, there will be little for you or even for the police to go upon but his 負傷させるd foot, his undoubtedly carefully 用意が出来ている アリバイ, and later, a woman's 混乱させるd description of a 直面する seen but for a moment only and that under a personal excitement 妨げるing minute attention. I should not be surprised if the whole thing （機の）カム to nothing."

But it did not. As soon as the description was received from Mrs. Amidon (a description, by the way, which was 異常に （疑いを）晴らす and 正確な, 借りがあるing to the peculiar and contradictory features of the man), the police were able to 認める him の中で the many 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うs always under their 注目する，もくろむ. 逮捕（する）d, he pleaded, just as 行方不明になる Strange had foretold, an アリバイ of a seemingly unimpeachable character; but neither it, nor the plausible explanation with which he endeavoured to account for a freshly 傷をいやす／和解させるd scar まっただ中に the callouses of his 権利 foot, could stand before Mrs. Amidon's 明白な 証言 that he was the same man she had seen in Mrs. Doolittle's upper room on the afternoon of her own happiness and of that poor woman's 殺人.

The moment when, at his 裁判，公判, the two 直面するs again 直面するd each other across a space no wider than that which had separated them on the dread occasion in Seventeenth Street, is said to have been one of the most 劇の in the annals of that 古代の 法廷，裁判所 room.

End Of Problem III

Problem IV
The Grotto Spectre

行方不明になる Strange was not often pensive—at least not 捕まらないで 機能（する）／行事s or when under the public 注目する，もくろむ. But she certainly forgot herself at Mrs. Provost's musicale and that, too, without 明らかな 推論する／理由. Had the music been of a high order one might have understood her abstraction; but it was of a decidedly mediocre 質, and Violet's ear was much too 罰金 and her musical sense too cultivated for her to be beguiled by anything いっそう少なく than the very best.

Nor had she the excuse of a dull companion. Her 護衛する for the evening was a man of unusual conversational 力／強力にするs; but she seemed to be almost oblivious of his presence; and when, through some passing courteous impulse, she did turn her ear his way, it was with just that tinge of 最大の関心事 which betrays the divided mind.

Were her thoughts with some secret problem yet 未解決の? It would scarcely seem so from the gay 発言／述べる with which she had left home. She was speaking to her brother and her words were: "I am going out to enjoy myself. I've not a care in the world. The 予定する is やめる clean." Yet she had never seemed more out of tune with her surroundings nor shown a mood その上の 除去するd from trivial entertainment. What had happened to becloud her gaiety in the short time which had since elapsed?

We can answer in a 宣告，判決.

She had seen, の中で a group of young men in a distant doorway, one with a 直面する so individual and of an 表現 so 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の that all 利益／興味 in the people about her had stopped as a clock stops when the pendulum is held 支援する. She could see nothing else, think of nothing else. Not that it was so very handsome—though no other had ever approached it in its 力／強力にする over her imagination—but because of its 表現 of haunting melancholy,—a melancholy so settled and so evidently the result of long-continued 悲しみ that her 利益／興味 had been reached and her heartstrings shaken as never before in her whole life.

She would never be the same Violet again.

Yet moved as she undoubtedly was, she was not conscious of the least 願望（する） to know who the young man was, or even to be made 熟知させるd with his story. She 簡単に 手配中の，お尋ね者 to dream her dream undisturbed.

It was therefore with a sense of unwelcome shock that, in the course of the 歓迎会 に引き続いて the programme, she perceived this 罰金 young man approaching herself, with his 権利 手渡す touching his left shoulder in the peculiar way which committed her to an interview with or without a formal introduction.

Should she 飛行機で行く the ordeal? Be blind and deaf to whatever was 重要な in his 活動／戦闘, and go her way before he reached her; thus keeping her dream 損なわれていない? Impossible. His 注目する，もくろむ 妨げるd that. His ちらりと見ること had caught hers and she felt 軍隊d to を待つ his 前進する and give him her first spare moment.

It （機の）カム soon, and when it （機の）カム she 迎える／歓迎するd him with a smile. It was the first she had ever bestowed in welcome of a 信用／信任 of whose tenor she was 完全に ignorant.

To her 救済 he showed his 評価 of the dazzling gift though he made no 成果／努力 to return it. 軽蔑（する）ing all 予選s in his 切望 to 発射する／解雇する himself of a 重荷（を負わせる） which was 急速な／放蕩な becoming intolerable, he 演説（する）／住所d her at once in these words:

"You are very good, 行方不明になる Strange, to receive me in this 慣習に捕らわれない fashion. I am in that desperate 明言する／公表する of mind which 妨げるs etiquette. Will you listen to my 嘆願（書）? I am told—you know by whom—"(and he again touched his shoulder) "that you have 資源s of 知能 which 特に fit you to 会合，会う the 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の difficulties of my position. May I beg you to 演習 them in my に代わって? No man would be more 感謝する if—But I see that you do not 認める me. I am Roger Upjohn. That I am 認める to this 集会 is 借りがあるing to the fact that our hostess knew and loved my mother. In my 苦悩 to 会合，会う you and proffer my 嘆願, I was willing to 勇敢に立ち向かう the 冷淡な looks you have probably noticed on the 直面するs of the people about us. But I have no 権利 to 支配する you to 批評. I—"

"Remain." Violet's 発言する／表明する was troubled, her self-所有／入手 乱すd; but there was a 命令（する） in her トン which he was only too glad to obey. "I know the 指名する" (who did not!) "and かもしれない my 義務 to myself should make me shun a 信用／信任 which may 重荷（を負わせる） me without relieving you. But you have been sent to me by one whose 命令s I feel bound to 尊敬（する）・点 and—"

不信ing her 発言する／表明する, she stopped. The 苦しむing which made itself 明らかな in the 直面する before her 控訴，上告d to her heart in a way to 略奪する her of her judgment. She did not wish this to be seen, and so fell silent.

He was quick to take advantage of her obvious 当惑. "Should I have been sent to you if I had not first 安全な・保証するd the 信用／信任 of the sender? You know the スキャンダル 大（公）使館員d to my 指名する, some of it just, some of it very 不正な. If you will 認める me an interview to-morrow, I will make an endeavour to 反駁する 確かな 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金s which I have hitherto let go unchallenged. Will you do me this favour? Will you listen in your own house to what I have to say?"

Instinct cried out against any such 譲歩 on her part, bidding her beware of one who charmed without excellence and 納得させるd without 推論する／理由. But compassion 勧めるd 同意／服従 and compassion won the day. Though conscious of 証拠不十分,—she, Violet Strange on whom strong men had come to rely in 批判的な hours calling for 井戸／弁護士席-balanced judgment,—she did not let this 関心 her, or 許す herself to indulge in useless 悔いるs even after the first 影響 of his presence had passed and she had 後継するd in 解任するing the facts which had cast a cloud about his 指名する.

Roger Upjohn was a widower, and the スキャンダル 影響する／感情ing him was connected with his wife's death.

Though a degenerate in some 尊敬（する）・点s, 欠如（する）ing the domineering presence, the strong mental 質s, and inflexible character of his progenitors, the 豊富な Massachusetts Upjohns whose 広大な／多数の／重要な place on the coast had a history as old as the 明言する／公表する itself, he yet had gifts and attractions of his own which would have made him a worthy 代表者／国会議員 of his race, if only he had not 直す／買収する，八百長をするd his affections on a woman so 冷淡な and heedless that she would have 奮起させるd 全世界の／万国共通の aversion instead of love, had she not been dowered with the beauty and physical fascination which いつかs …を伴って a hard heart and a 計画／陰謀ing brain. It was this beauty which had caught the lad; and one day, just as the careful father had mapped out a course of 熟考する／考慮する calculated to make a man of his son, that son drove up to the gates with this lady whom he introduced as his wife.

The shock, not of her beauty, though that was of the dazzling 質 which catches a man in the throat and makes a slave of him while the first surprise lasts, but of the 倒す of all his hopes and 計画（する）s, nearly prostrated ホームラン Upjohn. He saw, as most men did the moment judgment returned, that for all her satin 肌 and rosy 紅潮／摘発する, the wonder of her hair and the smile which pierced like arrows and warmed like ワイン, she was more likely to bring a 悪口を言う／悪態 into the house than a blessing.

And so it 証明するd. In いっそう少なく than a year the young husband had lost all his ambitions and many of his best impulses. No longer inclined to 熟考する／考慮する, he spent his days in 満足させるing his wife's whims and his evenings in carousing with the friends with which she had 供給するd him. This in Boston whither they had fled from the old gentleman's displeasure; but after their little son （機の）カム the father 主張するd upon their returning home, which led to 広大な／多数の／重要な deceptions, and precipitated a 悲劇 no one ever understood. They were natural gamblers—this couple—as all Boston society knew; and as ホームラン Upjohn loathed cards, they 設立する life slow in the 広大な／多数の／重要な house and grew 対応して restless till they made a 発見—or shall I say a rediscovery—of the once famous grotto hidden in the 激しく揺するs lining their 部分 of the coast. Here they 設立する a 退却／保養地 where they could hide themselves (often when they were thought to be abed and asleep) and play together for money or for a supper in the city or for anything else that foolish fancy 示唆するd. This was while their little son remained an 幼児; later, they were いっそう少なく easily 満足させるd. Both craved company, excitement, and 賭事ing on a large 規模; so they took to 招待するing friends to 会合，会う them in this grotto which, through the 機関 of one old servant 充てるd to Roger to the point of folly, had been fitted up and lighted in a manner not only comfortable but luxurious. A small but 避難所d 港／避難所 hidden in the curve of the 激しく揺するs made an approach by boat feasible at high tide; and at low the 関係 could be made by means of a path over the promontory in which this grotto lay 隠すd. The fortune which Roger had 相続するd from his mother made these 超過s possible, but many thousands, let alone the few he could call his, soon disappeared under the witchery of an irresponsible woman, and the half-dozen friends who knew his secret had to stand by and see his 廃虚, without daring to utter a word to the one who alone could stay it. For ホームラン Upjohn was not a man to be approached lightly, nor was he one to listen to 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金s without ocular proof to support them; and this called for courage, more courage than was 所有するd by any one who knew them both.

He was a hard man was ホームラン Upjohn, but with a heart of gold for those he loved. This, even his 用心深い daughter-in-法律 was wise enough to （悪事，秘密などを）発見する, and for a long while after the birth of her child she 包囲するd him with her 説得するing ways and bewitching graces. But he never changed his first opinion of her, and once she became fully 納得させるd of the folly of her 成果／努力s, she gave up all 試みる／企てる to please him and showed an open 無関心／冷淡. This in time 徐々に 延長するd till it embraced not only her child but her husband 同様に. Yes, it had come to that. His love no longer contented her. Her vanity had grown by what it daily fed on, and now called for the 賞賛 of the 急速な／放蕩な men who いつかs （機の）カム up from Boston to play with them in their unholy 退却／保養地. To 勝利，勝つ this, she dressed like some demon queen or witch, though it drove her husband into deeper play and 脅すd an （危険などに）さらす which would mean 災害 not only to herself but to the whole family.

In all this, as any one could see, Roger had been her slave and the willing 犠牲者 of all her caprices. What was it, then, which so 完全に changed him that a 分離 began to be talked of and even its 条件 discussed? One rumour had it that the father had discovered the secret of the grotto and exacted this as a 刑罰，罰則 from the son who had dishonoured him. Another, that Roger himself was the one to take the 率先 in this 事柄: That, on returning 突然に from New York one evening and finding her 行方不明の from the house, he had traced her to the grotto where he （機の）カム upon her playing a desperate game with the one man he had the greatest 推論する／理由 to 不信.

But whatever the explanation of this sudden change in their relations, there is but little 疑問 that a 合法的な 分離 between this ill-assorted couple was 未解決の, when one 荒涼とした autumn morning she was discovered dead in her bed under circumstances peculiarly open to comment.

The 内科医s who made out the 証明書 ascribed her death to heart-病気, symptoms of which had lately much alarmed the family doctor; but that a personal struggle of some 肉親，親類d had に先行するd the 致命的な attack was evident from the bruises which blackened her wrists. Had there been the like upon her throat it might have gone hard with the young husband who was known to be 熟視する／熟考するing her 解雇／（訴訟の）却下 from the house. But the discoloration of her wrists was all, and as bruised wrists do not kill and there was besides no 証拠 来たるべき of the two having spent one moment together for at least ten hours 先行する the 悲劇 but rather 十分な and 満足な 証言 to the contrary, the 事柄 lapsed and all 犯罪の 訴訟／進行s were 避けるd.

But not the スキャンダル which always follows the unexplained. As time passed and the peculiar look which betrays the haunted soul 徐々に became 明白な in the young widower's 注目する，もくろむs, 疑問s arose and 報告（する）／憶測s 循環させるd which cast strange reflections upon the 悲劇の end of his mistaken marriage. Stories of the disreputable use to which the old grotto had been put were mingled with vague hints of conjugal 暴力／激しさ never 適切に 調査／捜査するd. The result was his general avoidance not only by the social 始める，決める 支配するd by his high-minded father, but by his own いっそう少なく reputable coterie, which, however lax in its moral code, had very little use for a coward.

Such was the gossip which had reached Violet's ears in 関係 with this new （弁護士の）依頼人, prejudicing her altogether against him till she caught that beam of 深い and concentrated 苦しむing in his 注目する，もくろむ and 認めるd an innocence which 確実にするd her sympathy and led her to 認める him the interview for which he so 真面目に entreated.

He （機の）カム 誘発する to the hour, and when she saw him again with the 示すs of a sleepless night upon him and all the 調印するs of 苦しむing 強めるd in his unusual countenance, she felt her heart 沈む within her in a way she failed to understand. A dread of what she was about to hear robbed her of all 外見 of self-所有／入手, and she stood like one in a dream as he uttered his first greetings and then paused to gather up his own moral strength before he began his story. When he did speak it was to say:

"I find myself 強いるd to break a 公約する I have made to myself. You cannot understand my need unless I show you my heart. My trouble is not the one with which men have credited me. It has another source and is infinitely harder to 耐える. Personal dishonour I have deserved in a greater or いっそう少なく degree, but the 裁判，公判 which has come to me now 伴う／関わるs a person more dear to me than myself, and is 全く without alleviation unless you—" He paused, choked, then recommenced 突然の: "My wife"—Violet held her breath—"was supposed to have died from heart-病気 or—or some strange 種類 of 自殺. There were 推論する／理由s for this 結論—推論する／理由s which I 受託するd without serious question till some five weeks ago when I made a 発見 which led me to 恐れる—"

The broken 宣告，判決 hung 一時停止するd. Violet, notwithstanding his hurried gesture, could not 抑制する herself from stealing a look at his 直面する. It was 始める，決める in horror and, though 部分的に／不公平に turned aside, made an 控訴，上告 to her compassion to fill the 無効の made by his silence, without その上の suggestion from him.

She did this by 説 試験的に and with as little show of emotion as possible:

"You 恐れるd that the event called for vengeance and that vengeance would mean 増加するd 苦しむing to yourself 同様に as to another?"

"Yes; 広大な／多数の／重要な 苦しむing. But I may be under a most lamentable mistake. I am not sure of my 結論s. If my 疑問s have no real 創立／基礎—if they are 簡単に the offspring of my own 病気d imagination, what an 侮辱 to one I 深い尊敬の念を抱く! What a horror of ingratitude and 誤解—"

"Relate the facts," （機の）カム in startled トンs from Violet. "They may enlighten us."

He gave one quick shudder, buried his 直面する for one moment in his 手渡すs, then 解除するd it and spoke up quickly and with 予期しない firmness:

"I （機の）カム here to do so and do so I will. But where begin? 行方不明になる Strange, you cannot be ignorant of the circumstances, open and avowed, which …に出席するd my wife's death. But there were other and secret events in its 関係 which happily have been kept from the world, but which I must now 公表する／暴露する to you at any cost to my pride and いわゆる honour. This is the first one: On the morning 先行する the day of Mrs. Upjohn's death, an interview took place between us at which my father was 現在の. You do not know my father, 行方不明になる Strange. A strong man and a 厳しい one, with a 持つ／拘留する upon old traditions which nothing can shake. If he has a 証拠不十分 it is for my little boy Roger in whose 約束ing traits he sees the one hope which has 生き残るd the shipwreck of all for which our 指名する has stood. Knowing this, and realizing what the child's presence in the house meant to his old age, I felt my heart turn sick with 逮捕, when in the 中央 of the discussion as to the 条件 on which my wife would 同意 to a 永久の 分離, the little fellow （機の）カム dancing into the room, his curls atoss and his whole 直面する beaming with life and joy.

"She had not について言及するd the child, but I knew her 井戸／弁護士席 enough to be sure that at the first show of preference on his part for either his grandfather or myself, she would raise a （人命などを）奪う，主張する to him which she would never 放棄する. I dared not speak, but I met his eager looks with my most forbidding frown and hoped by this show of severity to 持つ／拘留する him 支援する. But his little heart was 十分な and, ignoring her outstretched 武器, he bounded に向かって 地雷 with his most affectionate cry. She saw and uttered her 最終提案. The child should go with her or she would not 同意 to a 分離. It was useless for us to talk; she had said her last word. The blow struck me hard, or so I thought, till I looked at my father. Never had I beheld such a change as that one moment had made in him. He stood as before; he 直面するd us with the same silent reprobation; but his heart had run from him like water.

"It was a sight to call up all my 資源s. To 許す her to remain now, with my feelings に向かって her all changed and my father's 注目する，もくろむs fully opened to her stony nature, was impossible. Nor could I 控訴，上告 to 法律. An open スキャンダル was my father's greatest dread and 離婚 訴訟／進行s his horror. The child would have to go unless I could find a way to 影響（力） her through her own nature. I knew of but one—do not look at me, 行方不明になる Strange. It was dishonouring to us both, and I'm horrified now when I think of it. But to me at that time it was natural enough as a last 訴える手段／行楽地. There was but one 負債 which my wife ever paid, but one 約束 she ever kept. It was that made at the gaming-（米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. I 申し込む／申し出d, as soon as my father, realizing the hopelessness of the 状況／情勢, had gone tottering from the room, to 賭事 with her for the child.

"And she 受託するd."

The shame and humiliation 表明するd in this final whisper; the sudden 不明瞭—for a 嵐／襲撃する was coming up—shook Violet to the soul. With 緊張するd gaze 直す／買収する，八百長をするd on the man before her, now little more than a 影をつくる／尾行する in the 勝つ／広く一帯に広がるing gloom, she waited for him to 再開する, and waited in vain. The minutes passed, the 不明瞭 became intolerable, and instinctively her 手渡す crept に向かって the electric button beneath which she was sitting. But she failed to 圧力（をかける） it. A tale so dark called for an atmosphere of its own 肉親，親類d. She would cast no light upon it. Yet she shivered as the silence continued, and started in uncontrollable 狼狽 when at length her strange 訪問者 rose, and still, without speaking, walked away from her to the other end of the room. Only so could he go on with the shameful tale; and presently she heard his 発言する／表明する once more in these words:

"Our house is large and its rooms many; but for such work as we two 熟視する／熟考するd there was but one 位置／汚点／見つけ出す where we could 命令（する） 絶対の seclusion. You may have heard of it, a famous natural grotto hidden in our own 部分 of the coast and so fitted up as to form a 退却／保養地 for our 哀れな selves when escape from my father's 注目する，もくろむ seemed 望ましい. It was not 平易な of 接近, and no one, so far as we knew, had ever followed us there.

"But to 確実にする ourselves against any possible interruption, we waited till the whole house was abed before we left it for the grotto. We went by boat and oh! the 下落する of those oars! I hear them yet. And the witchery of her 直面する in the moonlight; and the mockery of her low fitful laugh! As I caught the 悪意のある 公式文書，認める in its silvery rise and 落ちる, I knew what was before me if I failed to 保持する my composure. And I strove to 持つ／拘留する it and to 会合，会う her calmness with stoicism and the taunt of her 表現 with a mask of immobility. But the 成果／努力 was hopeless, and when the time （機の）カム for 取引，協定ing out the cards, my 注目する，もくろむs were 燃やすing in their sockets and my 手渡すs shivering like leaves in a rising 強風.

"We played one game—and my wife lost. We played another—and my wife won. We played the third—and the 運命／宿命 I had foreseen from the first became 地雷. The luck was with her, and I had lost my boy!"

A gasp—a pause, during which the 雷鳴 spoke and the 雷 flashed,—then a hurried catching of his breath and the tale went on.

"A burst of laughter, rising gaily above the にわか景気 of the sea, 発表するd her victory—her laugh and the taunting words: 'You play 不正に, Roger. The child is 地雷. Never 恐れる that I shall fail to teach him to 深い尊敬の念を抱く his father.' Had I a word to throw 支援する? No. When I realized anything but my dishonoured manhood, I 設立する myself in the grotto's mouth 星／主役にするing helplessly out upon the sea. The boat which had floated us in at high tide lay 立ち往生させるd but a few feet away, but I did not reach for it. Escape was quicker over the 激しく揺するs, and I made for the 激しく揺するs.

"That it was a 臆病な／卑劣な 行為／法令／行動する to leave her there to find her way 支援する alone at midnight by the same rough road I was taking, did not strike my mind for an instant. I was in flight from my own past; in flight from myself and the haunting dread of madness. When I awoke to reality again it was to find the small door, by which we had left the house, standing わずかに ajar. I was troubled by this, for I was sure of having の近くにd it. But the impression was 簡潔な／要約する, and entering, I went つまずくing up to my room, leaving the way open behind me more from sheer 無（不）能 to 演習 my will than from any thought of her.

"行方不明になる Strange" (he had come out of the 影をつくる／尾行するs and was standing now 直接／まっすぐに before her), "I must ask you to 信用 暗黙に in what I tell you of my その上の experiences that 致命的な night. It was not necessary for me to pass my little son's door ーするために reach the room I was making for; but anguish took me there and held me glued to the パネル盤s for what seemed a long, long time. When I finally crept away it was to go to the room I had chosen in the 最高の，を越す of the house, where I had my hour of hell and 直面するd my desolated 未来. Did I hear anything 合間 in the halls below? No. Did I even listen for the sound of her return? No. I was callous to everything, dead to everything but my own 悲惨. I did not even 注意する the approach of morning, till suddenly, with a shrillness no ear could ignore, there rose, 涙／ほころびing through the silence of the house, that 広大な／多数の／重要な 叫び声をあげる from my wife's room which 発表するd the 発見 of her 団体／死体 lying stark and 冷淡な in her bed.

"They said I showed little feeling." He had moved off again and spoke from somewhere in the 影をつくる／尾行するs. "Do you wonder at this after such a manifest 一打／打撃 by a benevolent Providence? My wife 存在 dead, Roger was saved to us! It was the one song of my still undisciplined soul, and I had to assume coldness lest they should see the greatness of my joy. A wicked and 有罪の rejoicing you will say, and you are 権利. But I had no memory then of the part I had played in this fatality. I had forgotten my 無謀な flight from the grotto, which left her with no 援助（する） but that of her own 勝利を得た spirit to help her over those 背信の 激しく揺するs. The necessity for keeping secret this part of our disgraceful story led me to 発揮する myself to keep it out of my own mind. It has only come 支援する to me in all its 軍隊 since a new horror, a new 疑惑, has driven me to review carefully every 出来事/事件 of that awful night.

"I was never a man of much logic, and when they （機の）カム to me on that morning of which I have just spoken and took me in where she lay and pointed to her beautiful 冷淡な 団体／死体 stretched out in seeming peace under the satin coverlet, and then to the pile of dainty 着せる／賦与するs lying neatly 倍のd on a 議長，司会を務める with just one fairy slipper on 最高の，を越す, I shuddered at her 運命／宿命 but asked no questions, not even when one of the women of the house について言及するd the circumstance of the 選び出す／独身 slipper and said that a search should be made for its mate. Nor was I as much impressed as one would 自然に 推定する／予想する by the whisper dropped in my ear that something was the 事柄 with her wrists. It is true that I 解除するd the lace they had carefully spread over them and 診察するd the discoloration which 延長するd like a （犯罪の）一味 about each pearly arm; but having no memories of any 暴力／激しさ 申し込む／申し出d her (I had not so much as laid 手渡す upon her in the grotto), these 示すs failed to rouse my 利益／興味. But—and now I must leap a year in my story—there （機の）カム a time when both of these facts recurred to my mind with startling distinctness and clamoured for explanation.

"I had risen above the shock which such a death に引き続いて such events would 自然に occasion even in one of my blunted sensibilities, and was 努力する／競うing to live a new life under the 激励 of my now fully reconciled father, when 事故 軍隊d me to re-enter the grotto where I had never stepped foot since that night. A favourite dog in chase of some innocent prey had escaped the leash and run into its 薄暗い 休会s and would not come out at my call. As I needed him すぐに for the 追跡（する）, I followed him over the promontory and, swallowing my repugnance, slid into the grotto to get him. Better a 急落（する），激減（する） to my death from the 高さ of the 激しく揺するs 非常に高い above it. For there in a remote corner, lighted up by a reflection from the sea, I beheld my setter crouched above an 反対する which in another moment I 認めるd as my dead wife's 行方不明の slipper. Here! Not in the waters of the sea or in the interstices of the 激しく揺するs outside, but here! Proof that she had never walked 支援する to the house where she was 設立する lying 静かに in her bed; proof 肯定的な; for I knew the path too 井戸／弁護士席 and the more than usual tenderness of her feet.

"How then, did she get there; and by whose 機関? Was she living when she went, or was she already dead? A year had passed since that delicate shoe had borne her from the boat into these 薄暗い 休会s; but it might have been only a day, so vividly did I live over in this moment of awful enlightenment all the events of the hour in which we sat there playing for the 所有／入手 of our child. Again I saw her gleaming 注目する，もくろむs, her rosy, working mouth, her わずかな／ほっそりした, white 手渡す, 負担d with diamonds, clutching the cards. Again I heard the （競技場の）トラック一周 of the sea on the pebbles outside and smelt the odour of the ワイン she had 注ぐd out for us both. The 瓶／封じ込める which had held it; the glass from which she had drunk lay now in pieces on the rocky 床に打ち倒す. The whole scene was 地雷 again and as I followed the event to its despairing の近くに, I seemed to see my own wild 人物／姿／数字 springing away from her to the grotto's mouth and so over the 激しく揺するs. But here fancy 滞るd, caught by a quick recollection to which I had never given a thought till now. As I made my way along those 激しく揺するs, a sound had struck my ear from where some stunted bushes made a 影をつくる／尾行する in the moonlight. The 勝利，勝つd might have 原因（となる）d it or some small night creature hustling away at my approach; and to some such 原因（となる） I must at the time have せいにするd it. But now, with brain 解雇する／砲火／射撃d by 疑惑, it seemed more like the quick intake of a human breath. Some one had been lying there in wait, listening at the one （法などの）抜け穴 in the 激しく揺するs where it was possible to hear what was said and done in the heart of the grotto. But who? who? and for what 目的 this listening; and to what end did it lead?

"Though I no longer loved even the memory of my wife, I felt my hair 解除する, as I asked myself these questions. There seemed to be but one 論理（学）の answer to the last, and it was this: A struggle followed by death. The shoe fallen from her foot, the 着せる／賦与するs 設立する 倍のd in her room (my wife was never 整然とした), and the dimly blackened wrists which were snow-white when she dealt the cards—all seemed to point to such a 結論. She may have died from heart-失敗, but a struggle had に先行するd her death, during which some man's strong fingers had been locked about her wrists. And again the question rose, Whose?

"If any place was ever hated by mortal man that grotto was hated by me. I loathed its 塀で囲むs, its 床に打ち倒す, its every 明白な and invisible corner. To ぐずぐず残る there—to look—almost tore my soul from my 団体／死体; yet I did ぐずぐず残る and did look and this is what I 設立する by way of reward.

"Behind a 事業／計画（する）ing ledge of 石／投石する from which a tattered rug still hung, I （機の）カム upon two nails driven a few feet apart into a fissure of the 激しく揺する. I had driven those nails myself long before for a 確かな 体操の attachment much in vogue at the time, and on looking closer, I discovered hanging from them the rope-ends by which I was wont to pull myself about. So far there was nothing to rouse any but innocent reminiscences. But when I heard the dog's low moan and saw him leap at the curled-up ends, and nose them with an eager look my way, I remembered the dark 示すs circling the wrists about which I had so often clasped my mother's bracelets, and the world went 黒人／ボイコット before me.

"When consciousness returned—when I could once more move and see and think, I 公式文書，認めるd another fact. Cards were strewn about the 床に打ち倒す, 直面する up and in a 直す／買収する，八百長をするd order as if laid in a mocking mood to be looked upon by 気が進まない 注目する，もくろむs; and 近づく the ominous half-circle they made, a cushion from the lounge, stained horribly with what I then thought to be 血, but which I afterwards 設立する to be ワイン. Vengeance spoke in those ropes and in the carefully spread-out cards, and 殺人 in the smothering pillow. The vengeance of one who had watched her corroding 影響（力） eat the life out of my honour and whose love for our little Roger was such that any 行為 which 確実にするd his continued presence in the home appeared not only warrantable but obligatory. 式のs! I knew of but one person in the whole world who could 心にいだく feeling to this extent or 所有する 十分な will 力／強力にする to carry her lifeless 団体／死体 支援する to the house and lay it in her bed and give no 調印する of the abominable 行為／法令／行動する from that day on to this.

"行方不明になる Strange, there are men who have a peculiar conception of 義務. My father—"

"You need not go on." How gently, how tenderly our Violet spoke. "I understand your trouble—"

Did she? She paused to ask herself if this were so, and he, deaf perhaps to her words, caught up his broken 宣告，判決 and went on:

"My father was in the hall the day I （機の）カム staggering in from my visit to the grotto. No words passed, but our 注目する，もくろむs met and from that hour I have seen death in his countenance and he has seen it in 地雷, like two 対抗者s, each struck to the heart, who stand 直面するing each other with ふりをするd smiles till they 落ちる. My father will 減少（する） first. He is old—very old since that day five weeks ago; and to see him die and not be sure—to see the 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な の近くに over a possible innocence, and I left here in ignorance of the blissful fact till my own 注目する，もくろむs の近くに forever, is more than I can 停止する under; more than any son could. Cannot you help me then to a 肯定的な knowledge? Think! think! A woman's mind is strangely 侵入するing, and yours, I am told, has an intuitive faculty more to be relied upon than the 推論する／理由ing of men. It must 示唆する some means of 確認するing my 疑問s or of definitely ending them."

Then Violet stirred and looked about at him and finally 設立する 発言する／表明する.

"Tell me something about your father's ways. What are his habits? Does he sleep 井戸／弁護士席 or is he wakeful at night?"

"He has poor nights. I do not know how poor because I am not often with him. His valet, who has always been in our family, 株 his room and 行為／法令／行動するs as his constant nurse. He can watch over him better than I can; he has no distracting trouble on his mind."

"And little Roger? Does your father see much of little Roger? Does he fondle him and seem happy in his presence?"

"Yes; yes. I have often wondered at it, but he does. They are 広大な／多数の／重要な chums. It is a 楽しみ to see them together."

"And the child 粘着するs to him—shows no 恐れる—sits on his （競技場の）トラック一周 or on the bed and plays as children do play with his 耐えるd or with his watch-chain?"

"Yes. Only once have I seen my little chap 縮む, and that was when my father gave him a look of unusual intensity,—looking for his mother in him perhaps."

"Mr. Upjohn, 許す me the question; it seems necessary. Does your father—or rather did your father before he fell ill—ever walk in the direction of the grotto or haunt in any way the 激しく揺するs which surround it?"

"I cannot say. The sea is there; he 自然に loves the sea. But I have never seen him standing on the promontory."

"Which way do his windows look?"

"に向かって the sea."

"Therefore に向かって the promontory?"

"Yes."

"Can he see it from his bed?"

"No. Perhaps that is the 原因（となる） of a peculiar habit he has."

"What habit?"

"Every night before he retires (he is not yet 限定するd to his bed) he stands for a few minutes in his 前線 window looking out. He says it's his good-night to the ocean. When he no longer does this, we shall know that his end is very 近づく."

The 直面する of Violet began to （疑いを）晴らす. Rising, she turned on the electric light, and then, reseating herself, 発言／述べるd with an 面 of 静かな 元気づける:

"I have two ideas; but they necessitate my presence at your place. You will not mind a visit? My brother will …を伴って me."

Roger Upjohn did not need to speak, hardly to make a gesture; his 表現 was so eloquent.

She thanked him as if he had answered in words, 追加するing with an 空気／公表する of gentle reserve: "Providence 補助装置s us in this 事柄. I am 招待するd to Beverly next week to …に出席する a wedding. I was ーするつもりであるing to stay two days, but I will make it three and spend the extra one with you."

"What are your 必要物／必要条件s, 行方不明になる Strange? I 推定する you have some."

Violet turned from the 課すing portrait of Mr. Upjohn which she had been 厳粛に 熟視する／熟考するing, and met the troubled 注目する，もくろむ of her young host with an enigmatical flash of her own. But she made no answer in words. Instead, she 解除するd her 権利 手渡す and ran one slender finger thoughtfully up the 事例／患者ing of the door 近づく which they stood till it struck a nick in the old mahogany almost on a level with her 長，率いる.

"Is your son Roger old enough to reach so far?" she asked with another short look at him as she let her finger 残り／休憩（する） where it had struck the roughened 支持を得ようと努めるd. "I thought he was a little fellow."

"He is. That 削減（する） was made by—by my wife; a 見本 of her capricious willfulness. She wished to leave a 記録，記録的な／記録する of herself in the 実体 of our house 同様に as in our lives. That nick 示すs her 高さ. She laughed when she made it. 'Till the 塀で囲むs 洞穴 in or 燃やす,' is what she said. And I thought her laugh and smile captivating."

Cutting short his own laugh which was much too sardonic for a lady's ears, he made a move as if to lead the way into another 部分 of the room. But Violet failed to notice this, and ぐずぐず残る in 静かな contemplation of this suggestive little nick,—the only blemish in a room of 古代の 植民地の magnificence,—she thoughtfully 発言／述べるd:

"Then she was a small woman?" 追加するing with seeming irrelevance—"like myself."

Roger winced. Something in the suggestion 傷つける him, and in the nod he gave there was an 空気／公表する of coldness which under ordinary circumstances would have deterred her from 追求するing this 支配する その上の. But the circumstances were not ordinary, and she 許すd herself to say:

"Was she so very different from me,—in 人物／姿／数字, I mean?"

"No. Why do you ask? Shall we not join your brother on the terrace?"

"Not till I have answered the question you put me a moment ago. You wished to know my 必要物／必要条件s. One of the most important you have already 実行するd. You have given your servants a half-holiday and by so doing 確実にするd to us 十分な liberty of 活動／戦闘. What else I need in the 試みる／企てる I 提案する to make, you will find 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）d in this memorandum." And taking a slip of paper from her 捕らえる、獲得する, she 申し込む／申し出d it to him with a 手渡す, the trembling of which he would have 公式文書，認めるd had he been freer in mind.

As he read, she watched him, her fingers nervously clutching her throat.

"Can you 供給（する） what I ask?" she 滞るd, as he failed to raise his 注目する，もくろむs or make any move or even to utter the groan she saw 殺到するing up to his lips. "Will you?" she impetuously 勧めるd, as his fingers の近くにd spasmodically on the paper, in 証拠 that he understood at last the 傾向 of her daring 目的.

The answer （機の）カム slowly, but it （機の）カム. "I will. But what—"

Her 手渡す rose in a pleading gesture.

"Do not ask me, but take Arthur and myself into the garden and show us the flowers. Afterwards, I should like a glimpse of the sea."

He 屈服するd and they joined Arthur who had already begun to stroll through the grounds.

Violet was seldom at a loss for talk even at the most 批判的な moments. But she was strangely tongue-tied on this occasion, as was Roger himself. Save for a few 観察s casually thrown out by Arthur, the three passed in a disquieting silence through pergola after pergola, and around beds gorgeous with every variety of 落ちる flowers, till they turned a sharp corner and （機の）カム in 十分な 見解（をとる） of the sea.

"Ah!" fell in an admiring murmur from Violet's lips as her 注目する，もくろむs swept the horizon. Then as they settled on a 集まり of 激しく揺する jutting out from the shore in a 広大な／多数の／重要な curve, she leaned に向かって her host and softly whispered:

"The promontory?"

He nodded, and Violet 投機・賭けるd no さらに先に, but stood for a little while gazing at the 宙返り／暴落するd 激しく揺するs. Then, with a quick look 支援する at the house, she asked him to point out his father's window.

He did so, and as she 公式文書，認めるd how 率直に it 直面するd the sea, her 表現 relaxed and her manner lost some of its 強制. As they turned to re-enter the house, she noticed an old man 選ぶing flowers from a vine clambering over one end of the piazza.

"Who is that?" she asked.

"Our oldest servant, and my father's own man," was Roger's reply. "He is 選ぶing my father's favourite flowers, a few late honeysuckles."

"How fortunate! Speak to him, Mr. Upjohn. Ask him how your father is this evening."

"…を伴って me and I will; and do not be afraid to enter into conversation with him. He is the mildest of creatures and 充てるd to his 患者. He likes nothing better than to talk about him."

Violet, with a meaning look at her brother, ran up the steps at Roger's 味方する. As she did so, the old man turned and Violet was astonished at the wistfulness with which he 見解（をとる）d her.

"What a dear old creature!" she murmured. "See how he 星／主役にするs this way. You would think he knew me."

"He is glad to see a woman about the place. He has felt our 孤立／分離—Good evening, Abram. Let this young lady have a spray of your sweetest honeysuckle. And, Abram, before you go, how is Father to-night? Still sitting up?"

"Yes, sir. He is very 正規の／正選手 in his ways. Nine is his hour; not a minute before and not a minute later. I don't have to look at the clock when he says: 'There, Abram, I've sat up long enough.'"

"When my father retires before his time or goes to bed without a final look at the sea, he will be a very sick man, Abram."

"That he will, Mr. Roger; that he will. But he's very feeble to-night, very feeble. I noticed that he gave the boy より小数の kisses than usual. Perhaps he was put out because the child was brought in a half-hour earlier than the 明言する／公表するd time. He don't like changes; you know that, Mr. Roger; he don't like changes. I hardly dared to tell him that the servants were all going out in a bunch to-night."

"I'm sorry," muttered Roger. "But he'll forget it by to-morrow. I couldn't 耐える to keep a 選び出す／独身 one from the concert. They'll be 支援する in good season and 合間 we have you. Abram is 価値（がある） half a dozen of them, 行方不明になる Strange. We shall 行方不明になる nothing."

"Thank you, Mr. Roger, thank you," 滞るd the old man. "I try to do my 義務." And with another wistful ちらりと見ること at Violet, who looked very 甘い and youthful in the half-light, he pottered away.

The silence which followed his 出発 was as painful to her as to Roger Upjohn. When she broke it it was with this 決定的な 発言／述べる:

"That man must not speak of me to your father. He must not even について言及する that you have a guest to-night. Run after him and tell him so. It is necessary that your father's mind should not be taken up with 現在の happenings. Run."

Roger made haste to obey her. When he （機の）カム 支援する she was on the point of joining her brother but stopped to utter a final （裁判所の）禁止（強制）命令:

"I shall leave the library, or wherever we may be sitting, just as the clock strikes half-past eight. Arthur will do the same, as by that time he will feel like smoking on the terrace. Do not follow either him or myself, but take your stand here on the piazza where you can get a 十分な 見解（をとる） of the 権利-手渡す wing without attracting any attention to yourself. When you hear the big clock in the hall strike nine, look up quickly at your father's window. What you see may 決定する—oh, Arthur! still admiring the prospect? I do not wonder. But I find it chilly. Let us go in."

Roger Upjohn, sitting by himself in the library, was watching the 手渡すs of the mantel clock slowly approaching the hour of nine.

Never had silence seemed more oppressive nor his sense of loneliness greater. Yet the にわか景気 of the ocean was 際立った to the ear, and human presence no さらに先に away than the terrace where Arthur Strange could be seen smoking out his cigar in 孤独. The silence and the loneliness were in Roger's own soul; and, in 直面する of the 推定する／予想するd 発覚 which would make or unmake his 未来, the desolation they wrought was measureless.

To 削減（する） his suspense short, he rose at length and hurried out to the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す 指定するd by 行方不明になる Strange as the best point from which to keep watch upon his father's window. It was at the end of the piazza where the honeysuckle hung, and the odour of the blossoms, so pleasing to his father, 井戸／弁護士席-nigh overpowered him not only by its sweetness but by the many memories it called up. 見通しs of that father as he looked at all 行う／開催する／段階s of their 関係 passed in a bewildering maze before him. He saw him as he appeared to his childish 注目する，もくろむs in those 早期に days of 信用／信任 when the loss of the mother cast them in 相互の dependence upon each other. Then a sterner picture of the relentless parent who sees but one straight course to success in this world and the next. Then the teacher and the 円熟したd 助言者; and then—oh, bitter change! the man whose hopes he had crossed—whose life he had undone, and all for her who now （機の）カム stealing upon the scene with her わずかな／ほっそりした, white, jewelled 手渡す forever 解除するd up between them. And she! Had he ever seen her more 明確に? Once more the dainty 人物／姿／数字 stepped from fairy-land, beauteous with every grace that can allure and finally destroy a man. And as he saw, he trembled and wished that these moments of awful waiting might pass and the 実験（する） be over which would lay 明らかにする his father's heart and 正当化する his 恐れるs or 追い散らす them forever.

But the 危機, if 危機 it was, was one of his own making and not to be 急いでd or 避けるd. With one quick ちらりと見ること at his father's window, he turned in his impatience に向かって the sea whose restless and continuous moaning had at length struck his ear. What was in its call to-night that he should thus sway に向かって it as though drawn by some dread 磁石の 軍隊? He had been born to the dashing of its waves and knew its every mood and all the passion of its song from frolicsome ripple to melancholy dirge. But there was something 半端物 and inexplicable in its 影響 upon his spirit as he 直面するd it at this hour. Grim and implacable—a sound rather than a sight—it seemed to 持つ／拘留する within its invisible distances the image of his 未来 運命／宿命. What this image was and why he should 捜し出す for it in this impenetrable 無効の, he did not know. He felt himself held and was struggling with this 影響（力） as with an unknown enemy when there rang out, from the hall within, the 準備の chimes for which his ear was waiting, and then the nine slow 一打／打撃s which signalized the moment when he was to look for his father's presence at the window.

Had he wished, he could not have forborne that look. Had his 注目する，もくろむs been の近くにing in death, or so he felt, the trembling lids would have burst apart at this call and the 発覚s it 約束d.

And what did he see? What did that window 持つ／拘留する for him?

Nothing that he might not have seen there any night at this hour. His father's 人物／姿／数字 drawn up behind the panes in wistful contemplation of the night. No 明白な change in his 態度, nothing 軍隊d or unusual in his manner. Even the 手渡す, 解除するd to pull 負かす／撃墜する the shade, moves with its familiar hesitation. In a moment more that shade will be 負かす／撃墜する and—But no! the 解除するd 手渡す 落ちるs 支援する; the 平易な 態度 becomes 緊張するd, 直す／買収する，八百長をするd. He is 星／主役にするing now—not 単に gazing out upon the wastes of sky and sea; and Roger, に引き続いて the direction of his ちらりと見ること, 星／主役にするs also in breathless emotion at what those distances, but now so impenetrable, are giving to the 注目する，もくろむ.

A spectre floating in the 空気／公表する above the promontory! The spectre of a woman—of his wife, 覆う？, as she had been 覆う？ that 致命的な night! 輪郭（を描く）d in supernatural light, it 直面するs them with 解除するd 武器 showing the ends of rope dangling from either wrist. A sight awful to any 注目する，もくろむ, but to the man of 有罪の heart—

Ah! it comes—the cry for which the agonized son had been listening! An old man's shriek, hoarse with the 悔恨 of sleepless nights and days of unimaginable 悔いる and foreboding! It 削減（する）s the night. It 削減（する）s its way into his heart. He feels his senses failing him, yet he must ちらりと見ること once more at the window and see with his last conscious look—But what is this! a change has taken place in the picture and he beholds, not the distorted form of his father 沈むing 支援する in shame and terror before this 明白な image of his secret sin, but that of another weak, old man 落ちるing to the 床に打ち倒す behind his 支援する! Abram! the attentive, seemingly 害のない, 後見人 of the 世帯! Abram! who had never spoken a word or given a look in any way suggestive of his having played any other part in the hideous 演劇 of their lives than that of the humble and 同情的な servant!

The shock was too 広大な／多数の／重要な, the 救済 too 絶対の for credence. He, the listener at the grotto? He, the avenger of the family's honour? He, the 保険会社 of little Roger's continuance with the family at a cost the one who loved him best would rather have died himself than 支払う／賃金? Yes! there is no misdoubting this old servitor's 態度 of abject 控訴，上告, or the meaning of ホームラン Upjohn's joyfully uplifted countenance and outspreading 武器. The servant begs for mercy from man, and the master is giving thanks to Heaven. Why giving thanks? Has he been the prey of cankering 疑問s also? Has the father dreaded to discover that in the son which the son has dreaded to discover in the father?

It might easily be; and as Roger 認めるs this truth and the 十分な 悲劇 of their 相互の lives, he 減少（する）s to his 膝s まっただ中に the honeysuckles.

"Violet, you are a wonder. But how did you dare?"

This from Arthur as the two 棒 to the train in the 早期に morning.

The answer （機の）カム a bit waveringly.

"I do not know. I am astonished yet, at my own daring. Look at my 手渡すs. They have not 中止するd trembling since the moment you threw the light upon me on the 激しく揺するs. The 人物／姿／数字 of old Mr. Upjohn in the window looked so august."

Arthur, with a short ちらりと見ること at the little 手渡すs she held out, shrugged his shoulders imperceptibly. It struck him that the tremulousness she complained of was 予定 more to some parting word from their young host, than from 長引かせるd awe at her own daring. But he made no 発言／述べる to this 影響, only 観察するd:

"Abram has 自白するd his 犯罪, I hear."

"Yes, and will die of it. The master will bury the man, and not the man the master."

"And Roger? Not the little fellow, but the father?"

"We will not talk of him," said she, her 注目する，もくろむs 捜し出すing the sea where the sun in its rising was 戦う／戦いing with a 軍隊／機動隊 of lowering clouds and slowly 伸び（る）ing the victory.

End Of Problem IV

Problem V
The Dreaming Lady

"And this is all you mean to tell me?"

"I think you will find it やめる enough, 行方不明になる Strange."

"Just the 演説（する）／住所—"

"And this advice: that your call be 迅速な. Distracted 神経s cannot wait."

Violet, across whose wonted piquancy there lay an indefinable 影をつくる／尾行する, 注目する，もくろむd her 雇用者 with a doubtful 空気／公表する before turning away toward the door. She had asked him for a 事例／患者 to 調査／捜査する (something she had never done before), and she had even gone so far as to particularize the sort of 事例／患者 she 願望（する）d: "It must be an 利益／興味ing one," she had 規定するd, "but different, やめる different from the last one. It must not 伴う／関わる death or any 肉親，親類d of horror. If you have a 事例／患者 of subtlety without 罪，犯罪, one to engage my 力／強力にするs without depressing my spirits, I beg you to let me have it. I—I have not felt やめる like myself since I （機の）カム from Massachusetts." その結果, without その上の comment, but with a smile she did not understand, he had 手渡すd her a small slip of paper on which he had scribbled an 演説（する）／住所. She should have felt 満足させるd, but for some 推論する／理由 she did not. She regarded him as 有能な of 急落（する），激減（する）ing her into an 事件／事情／状勢 やめる the 逆転する of what she felt herself in a 条件 to 請け負う.

"I should like to know a little more," she 追求するd, making a move to 広げる the slip he had given her.

But he stopped her with a gesture.

"Read it in your リムジン," said he. "If you are disappointed then, let me know. But I think you will find yourself やめる ready for your 仕事."

"And my father?"

"Would 認可する if he could be got to 認可する the 商売／仕事 at all. You do not even need to take your brother with you."

"Oh, then, it's with women only I have to 取引，協定?"

"Read the 演説（する）／住所 after you are 長，率いるd up Fifth Avenue."

But when, with her 疑問s not yet 完全に 除去するd, she opened the small slip he had given her, the number inside 示唆するd nothing but the fact that her 目的地 lay somewhere 近づく Eightieth Street. It was therefore with the keenest surprise she beheld her モーター stop before the 目だつ house of the 広大な／多数の／重要な financier whose late death had so 影響する／感情d the money-market. She had not had any 知識 with this man herself, but she knew his house. Everyone knew that. It was one of the most princely in the whole city. C. Dudley Brooks had known how to spend his millions. Indeed, he had known how to do this so 井戸／弁護士席 that it was of him her father, also a financier of some 公式文書，認める, had once said he was the only successful American he envied.

She was 推定する／予想するd; that she saw the instant the door was opened. This made her 入り口 平易な—an 入り口 その上の brightened by the delightful glimpse of a child's cherubic 直面する looking at her from a distant doorway. It was an instantaneous 見通し, gone as soon as seen; but its 影響 was to 略奪する the 中心存在d spaces of the wonderful hallway of some of their 冷気／寒がらせる, and to 修正する in some slight degree the 形式順守 of a service which 需要・要求するd three men to 勧める her into a small 歓迎会-room not twenty feet from the door of 入り口.

Left in this secluded 位置／汚点／見つけ出す, she had time to ask herself what member of the 世帯 she would be called upon to 会合，会う, and was surprised to find that she did not even know of whom the 世帯 consisted. She was sure of the fact that Mr. Brooks had been a widower for many years before his death, but beyond that she knew nothing of his 国内の life. His son—but was there a son? She had never heard any について言及する made of a younger Mr. Brooks, yet there was certainly some one of his 関係 who enjoyed the 権利s of an 相続人. Him she must be 用意が出来ている to 会合，会う with a 予定 composure, whatever astonishment he might show at the sight of a slip of a girl instead of the experienced 探偵，刑事 he had every 権利 to 推定する／予想する.

But when the door opened to 収容する／認める the person she was を待つing, the surprise was hers. It was a woman who stood before her, a woman and an oddity. Yet, in just what her oddity lay, Violet 設立する it difficult to decide. Was it in the smoothness of her white locks drawn carefully 負かす／撃墜する over her ears, or in the contrast afforded by her eager 注目する，もくろむs and her weak and tremulous mouth? She was dressed in the heaviest of 嘆く／悼むing and very expensively, but there was that in her 耐えるing and 表現 which made it impossible to believe that she took any 利益／興味 in her 衣料品s or even knew in which of her dresses she had been attired.

"I am the person you have come here to see," she said. "Your 指名する is not unfamiliar to me, but you may not know 地雷. It is Quintard; Mrs. Quintard. I am in difficulty. I need 援助—secret 援助. I did not know where to go for it except to a 探偵，刑事 機関; so I telephoned to the first one I saw advertised; and—and I was told to 推定する／予想する 行方不明になる Strange. But I didn't think it would be you though I suppose it's all 権利. You have come here for this 目的, 港／避難所't you, though it does seem a little queer?"

"Certainly, Mrs. Quintard; and if you will tell me—"

"My dear, it's just this—yes, I will sit 負かす／撃墜する. Last week my brother died. You have heard of him no 疑問, C. Dudley Brooks?"

"Oh, yes; my father knew him—we all knew him by 評判. Do not hurry, Mrs. Quintard. I have sent my car away. You can take all the time you wish."

"No, no, I cannot. I'm in desperate haste. He—but let me go on with my story. My brother was a widower, with no children to 相続する. That everybody knows. But his wife left behind her a son by a former husband, and this son of hers my brother had in a 手段 可決する・採択するd, and even made his 単独の 相続人 in a will he drew up during the lifetime of his wife. But when he 設立する, as he very soon did, that this young man was not developing in a way to 会合，会う such 広大な／多数の／重要な 責任／義務s, he made a new will—though unhappily without the knowledge of the family, or even of his most intimate friends—in which he gave the 本体，大部分／ばら積みの of his 広大な／多数の／重要な 広い地所 to his 甥 Clement, who has bettered the 約束 of his 青年 and who besides has children of 広大な／多数の／重要な beauty whom my brother had learned to love. And this will—this hoarded 捨てる of paper which means so much to us all, is lost! lost! and I—" here her 発言する／表明する which had risen almost to a 叫び声をあげる, sank to a horrified whisper, "am the one who lost it."

"But there's a copy of it somewhere—there is always a copy—"

"Oh, but you 港／避難所't heard all. My 甥 is an 無効の; has been an 無効の for years—that's why so little is known about him. He's dying of 消費. The doctors 持つ／拘留する out no hope for him, and now, with the 恐れる preying upon him of leaving his wife and children penniless, he is wearing away so 急速な／放蕩な that any hour may see his end. And I have to 会合，会う his 注目する，もくろむs—such pitiful 注目する，もくろむs—and the look in them is 殺人，大当り me. Yet, I was not to 非難する. I could not help—Oh, 行方不明になる Strange," she suddenly broke in with the inconsequence of extreme feeling, "the will is in the house! I never carried it off the 床に打ち倒す where I sleep. Find it; find it, I pray, or—"

The moment had come for Violet's soft touch, for Violet's encouraging word.

"I will try," she answered her.

Mrs. Quintard grew calmer.

"But, first," the young girl continued, "I must know more about the 条件s. Where is this 甥 of yours—the man who is ill?"

"In this house, where he has been for the last eight months."

"Was the child his of whom I caught a glimpse in the hall as I （機の）カム in?"

"Yes, and—"

"I will fight for that child!" Violet cried out impulsively. "I am sure his father's 原因（となる） is good. Where is the other claimant—the one you 指定する as Carlos?"

"Oh, there's where the trouble is! Carlos is on the Mauretania, and she is 予定 here in a couple of days. He comes from the East where he has been 小旅行するing with his wife. 行方不明になる Strange, the lost will must be 設立する before then, or the other will be opened and read and Carlos made master of this house, which would mean our quick 出発 and Clement's 確かな death."

"Move a sick man?—a 親族 as low as you say he is? Oh no, Mrs. Quintard; no one would do that, were the house a cabin and its owners paupers."

"You do not know Carlos; you do not know his wife. We should not be given a week in which to pack. They have no children and they envy Clement who has. Our only hope lies in discovering the paper which gives us the 権利 to remain here in 直面する of all 対立. That or penury. Now you know my trouble."

"And it is trouble; one from which I shall make every 成果／努力 to relieve you. But first let me ask if you are not worrying unnecessarily about this 行方不明の 文書? If it was drawn up by Mr. Brooks's lawyer—"

"But it was not," that lady impetuously interrupted. "His lawyer is Carlos's 近づく 親族, and has never been told of the change in my brother's 意向s. Clement (I am speaking now of my brother and not of my 甥) was a 広大な／多数の／重要な money-getter, but when it （機の）カム to standing up for his 権利s in 国内の 事柄s, he was more timid than a child. He was 支配する to his wife while she lived, and when she was gone, to her 親族s, who are all of a 支配するing character. When he finally made up his mind to do us 司法（官） and 除去する Carlos, he went out of town—I wish I could remember where—and had this will drawn up by a stranger, whose 指名する I cannot 解任する."

Her shaking トンs, her nervous manner betrayed a 証拠不十分 equalling, if not より勝るing, that of the brother who dared in secret what he had not strength to 認める 率直に, and it was with some hesitation Violet 用意が出来ている to ask those 限定された questions which would elucidate the 原因（となる） and manner of a loss seemingly so important. She dreaded to hear some commonplace tale of inexcusable carelessness. Something subtler than this—the presence of some unsuspected 機関 …に反対するd to young Clement's 利益／興味; some 同志／支持者 of Carlos; some secret 土台を崩すing 軍隊 in a house 十分な of servants and dependants, seemed necessary for the 開発 of so ordinary a 状況／情勢 into a 演劇 正当化するing the 演習 of her special 力／強力にするs.

"I think I understand now your exact position in the house, 同様に as the value of the paper which you say you have lost. The next thing for me to hear is how you （機の）カム to have 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 of this paper, and under what circumstances you were led to mislay it. Do you not feel やめる ready to tell me?"

"Is—is that necessary?" Mrs. Quintard 滞るd.

"Very," replied Violet, watching her curiously.

"I didn't 推定する／予想する—that is, I hoped you would be able to point out, by some 力／強力にする we cannot of course explain, just the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す where the paper lies, without having to tell all that. Some people can, you know."

"Ah, I understand. You regarded me as unfit for practical work, and so credited me with occult 力／強力にするs. But that is where you made a mistake, Mrs. Quintard; I'm nothing if not practical. And let me 追加する, that I'm as secret as the 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な 関心ing what my （弁護士の）依頼人s tell me. If I am to be of any help to you, I must be made 熟知させるd with every fact 伴う／関わるd in the loss of this 価値のある paper. Relate the whole circumstance or 解任する me from the 事例／患者. You can have done nothing more foolish or wrong than many—"

"Oh, don't say things like that!" broke in the poor woman in a トン of 広大な／多数の／重要な indignation. "I have done nothing anyone could call either foolish or wicked. I am 簡単に very unfortunate, and 存在 極度の慎重さを要する—But this isn't telling the story. I'll try to make it all （疑いを）晴らす; but if I do not, and show any 混乱, stop me and help me out with questions. I—I—oh, where shall I begin?"

"With your first knowledge of this second will."

"Thank you, thank you; now I can go on. One night, すぐに after my brother had been given up by the 内科医s, I was called to his 病人の枕元 for a confidential talk. As he had received that day a very large 量 of money from the bank, I thought he was going to 手渡す it over to me for Clement, but it was for something much more serious than this he had 召喚するd me. When he was やめる sure that we were alone and nobody anywhere within 審理，公聴会, he told me that he had changed his mind as to the 処分 of his 所有物／資産／財産 and that it was to Clement and his children, and not to Carlos, he was going to leave this house and the 本体，大部分／ばら積みの of his money. That he had had a new will drawn up which he showed me—"

"Showed you?"

"Yes; he made me bring it to him from the 安全な where he kept it; and, feeble as he was, he was so 利益／興味d in pointing out 確かな 部分s of it that he 解除するd himself in bed and was so strong and animated that I thought he was getting better. But it was a 誤った strength 予定 to the excitement of the moment, as I saw next day when he suddenly died."

"You were 説 that you brought the will to him from his 安全な. Where was the 安全な?"

"In the 塀で囲む over his 長，率いる. He gave me the 重要な to open it. This 重要な he took from under his pillow. I had no trouble in fitting it or in turning the lock."

"And what happened after you looked at the will?"

"I put it 支援する. He told me to. But the 重要な I kept. He said I was not to part with it again till the time （機の）カム for me to produce the will."

"And when was that to be?"

"すぐに after the funeral, if it so happened that Carlos had arrived in time to …に出席する it. But if for any 推論する／理由 he failed to be here, I was to let it 嘘（をつく） till within three days of his return, when I was to take it out in the presence of a Mr. Delahunt who was to have 十分な 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 of it from that time. Oh, I remember all that 井戸／弁護士席 enough! and I meant most 真面目に to carry out his wishes, but—"

"Go on, Mrs. Quintard, pray go on. What happened? Why couldn't you do what he asked?"

"Because the will was gone when I went to take it out. There was nothing to show Mr. Delahunt but the empty shelf."

"Oh, a 窃盗! just a ありふれた 窃盗! Someone overheard the talk you had with your brother. But how about the 重要な? You had that?"

"Yes, I had that."

"Then it was taken from you and returned? You must have been careless as to where you kept it—"

"No, I wore it on a chain about my neck. Though I had no 推論する／理由 to 不信 any one in the house, I felt that I could not guard this 重要な too carefully. I even kept it on at night. In fact it never left me. It was still on my person when I went into the room with Mr. Delahunt. But the 安全な had been opened for all that."

"There were two 重要なs to it, then?"

"No; in giving me the 重要な, my brother had 厳密に 警告するd me not to lose it, as it had no duplicate."

"Mrs. Quintard, have you a special confidant or maid?"

"Yes, my Hetty."

"How much did she know about this 重要な?"

"Nothing, but that it didn't help the fit of my dress. Hetty has cared for me for years. There's no more 充てるd woman in all New York, nor one who can be more relied upon to tell the truth. She is so honest with her tongue that I am bound to believe her even when she says—"

"What?"

"That it was I and nobody else who took the will out of the 安全な last night. That she saw me come from my brother's room with a 倍のd paper in my 手渡す, pass with it into the library, and come out again without it. If this is so, then that will is somewhere in that 広大な／多数の／重要な room. But we've looked in every 考えられる place except the 棚上げにするs, where it is useless to search. It would take days to go through them all, and 一方／合間 Carlos—"

"We will not wait for Carlos. We will begin work at once. But just one other question. How （機の）カム Hetty to see you in your walk through the rooms? Did she follow you?"

"Yes. It's—it's not the first time I have walked in my sleep. Last night—but she will tell you. It's a painful 支配する to me. I will send for her to 会合，会う us in the library."

"Where you believe this 文書 to 嘘（をつく） hidden?"

"Yes."

"I am anxious to see the room. It is upstairs, I believe."

"Yes."

She had risen and was moving 速く toward the door. Violet 熱望して followed her.

Let us …を伴って her in her passage up the palatial stairway, and realize the 影響 upon her of a splendour whose 未来 所有権 かもしれない depended 完全に upon herself.

It was a 冷淡な splendour. The merry 発言する／表明するs of children were 欠如（する）ing in these 広大な／多数の／重要な halls. Death past and to come infused the 空気／公表する with solemnity and mocked the pomp which yet appeared so much a part of the life here that one could hardly imagine the 抱擁する 中心存在d spaces without it.

To Violet, more or いっそう少なく accustomed to 罰金 内部のs, the 長，指導者 利益／興味 of this one lay in its 関係 with the mystery then 占領するing her. Stopping for a moment on the stair, she 問い合わせd of Mrs. Quintard if the loss she so 嘆き悲しむd had been made known to the servants, and was much relieved to find that, with the exception of Mr. Delahunt, she had not spoken of it to any one but Clement. "And he will never について言及する it," she 宣言するd, "not even to his wife. She has troubles enough to 耐える without knowing how 近づく she stood to a fortune."

"Oh, she will have her fortune!" Violet confidently replied. "In time, the lawyer who drew up the will will appear. But what you want is an 即座の 勝利 over the 冷淡な Carlos, and I hope you may have it. Ah!"

This expletive was a sigh of sheer surprise.

Mrs. Quintard had 打ち明けるd the library door and Violet had been given her first glimpse of this, the finest room in New York.

She remembered now that she had often heard it so characterized, and, indeed, had it been taken bodily from some historic abbey of the old world, it could not have 表明するd more fully, in structure and ornamentation, the Gothic idea at its best. All that it 欠如（する）d were the 協会s of 消えるd centuries, and these, in a 手段, were 供給（する）d to the imagination by the 熟考する／考慮するd mellowness of its 色合いs and the suggestion of age in its carvings.

So much for the room itself, which was but a 爆撃する for 持つ／拘留するing the 広大な／多数の／重要な treasure of 価値のある 調書をとる／予約するs 範囲d along every shelf. As Violet's 注目する，もくろむs sped over their 階級s and thence to the five windows of 深く，強烈に stained glass which 直面するd her from the southern end, Mrs. Quintard indignantly exclaimed:

"And Carlos would turn this into a billiard room!"

"I do not like Carlos," Violet returned hotly; then remembering herself, 急いでd to ask whether Mrs. Quintard was やめる 肯定的な as to this room 存在 the one in which she had hidden the precious 文書.

"You had better talk to Hetty," said that lady, as a stout woman of most prepossessing 外見 entered their presence and paused respectfully just inside the doorway. "Hetty, you will answer any questions this young lady may put. If anyone can help us, she can. But first, what news from the sick-room?"

"Nothing good. The doctor has just come for the third time today. Mrs. Brooks is crying and even the children are dumb with 恐れる."

"I will go. I must see the doctor. I must tell him to keep Clement alive by any means till—"

She did not wait to say what; but Violet understood and felt her heart grow 激しい. Could it be that her 雇用者 considered this the gay and 平易な 仕事 she had asked for?

The next minute she was putting her first question:

"Hetty, what did you see in Mrs. Quintard's 活動／戦闘 last night, to make you infer that she left the 行方不明の 文書 in this room?"

The woman's 注目する，もくろむs, which had been respectfully 熟考する／考慮するing her 直面する, brightened with a 救済 which made her communicative. With the self-所有／入手 of a perfectly candid nature, she inquiringly 発言／述べるd:

"My mistress has spoken of her infirmity?"

"Yes, and very 率直に."

"She walks in her sleep."

"So she said."

"And いつかs when others are asleep, and she is not."

"She did not tell me that."

"She is a very nervous woman and cannot always keep still when she rouses up at night. When I hear her rise, I get up too; but, never 存在 やめる sure whether she is sleeping or not, I am careful to follow her at a 確かな distance. Last night I was so far behind her that she had been to her brother's room and left it before I saw her 直面する."

"Where is his room and where is hers?"

"Hers is in 前線 on this same 床に打ち倒す. Mr. Brooks's is in the 後部, and can be reached either by the hall or by passing through this room into a small one beyond, which we called his den."

"述べる your 遭遇（する）. Where were you standing when you saw her first?"

"In the den I have just について言及するd. There was a 有望な light in the hall behind me and I could see her 人物／姿／数字 やめる plainly. She was 持つ／拘留するing a 倍のd paper clenched against her breast, and her movement was so mechanical that I was sure she was asleep. She was coming this way, and in another moment she entered this room. The door, which had been open, remained so, and in my 苦悩 I crept to it and looked in after her. There was no light 燃やすing here at that hour, but the moon was 向こうずねing in in long rays of variously coloured light. If I had followed her—but I did not. I just stood and watched her long enough to see her pass through a blue ray, then through a green one, and then into, if not through, a red one. 推定する／予想するing her to walk straight on, and having some 恐れるs of the staircase once she got into the hall, I hurried around to the door behind you there to 長，率いる her off. But she had not yet left this room. I waited and waited and still she did not come. 恐れるing some 事故, I finally 投機・賭けるd to approach the door and try it. It was locked. This alarmed me. She had never locked herself in anywhere before and I did not know what to make of it. Some persons would have shouted her 指名する, but I had been 警告するd against doing that, so I 簡単に stood where I was, and 結局 I heard the 重要な turn in the lock and saw her come out. She was still walking stiffly, but her 手渡すs were empty and hanging at her 味方する."

"And then?"

"She went straight to her room and I after her. I was sure she was dead asleep by this time."

"And she was?"

"Yes, 行方不明になる; but still 十分な of what was on her mind. I know this because she stopped when she reached the 病人の枕元 and began fumbling with the waist of her wrapper. It was for the 重要な she was searching, and when her fingers 遭遇（する）d it hanging on the outside, she opened her wrapper and thrust it in on her 明らかにする 肌."

"You saw her do all that?"

"As plainly as I see you now. The light in her room was 燃やすing brightly."

"And after that?"

"She got into bed. It was I who turned off the light."

"Has that wrapper of hers a pocket?"

"No, 行方不明になる."

"Nor her gown?"

"No, 行方不明になる."

"So she could not have brought the paper into her room 隠すd about her person?"

"No, 行方不明になる; she left it here. It never passed beyond this doorway."

"But might she not have carried it 支援する to some place of concealment in the rooms she had left?"

The woman's 直面する changed and a slight 紅潮／摘発する showed through the natural brown of her cheeks.

"No," she disclaimed; "she could not have done that. I was careful to lock the library door behind her before I ran out into the hall."

"Then," 結論するd Violet, with all the 強調 of 有罪の判決, "it is here, and nowhere else we must look for that 文書 till we find it."

Thus 保証するd of the first step in the 仕事 she had before her, 行方不明になる Strange settled 負かす／撃墜する to 商売／仕事.

The room, which towered to the 高さ of two stories, was in the 形態／調整 of a 抱擁する oval. This oval, separated into 狭くする 分割s for the 目的 of 融通するing the 棚上げにするs with which it was lined, 狭くするd as it rose above the 広大な／多数の／重要な Gothic chimney-piece and the five gorgeous windows looking に向かって the south, till it met and was lost in the tracery of the 天井, which was of that exquisite and soul-満足させるing order which we see in the Henry VII chapel in Westminster Abbey. What break さもなければ occurred in the circling 一連の会議、交渉／完成する of 調書をとる／予約するs reaching thus thirty feet or more above the 長，率いる was made by the two doors already spoken of and a 狭くする （土地などの）細長い一片 of 塀で囲む at either end of the space 占領するd by the windows. No furniture was to be seen there except a couple of 立ち往生させるs taken from some old cathedral, which stood in the two 明らかにする places just について言及するd.

But within, on the 広範囲にわたる 床に打ち倒す-space, several articles were grouped, and Violet, 認めるing the 可能性s which any one of them afforded for the concealment of so small an 反対する as a 倍のd 文書, decided to use method in her search, and to that end, mentally divided the space before her into four segments.

The first took in the door, communicating with the 控訴 ending in Mr. Brooks's bedroom. A diagram of this segment will show that the only article of furniture in it was a 閣僚.

It was at this 閣僚 行方不明になる Strange made her first stop.

"You have looked this 井戸／弁護士席 through?" she asked as she bent over the glass 事例／患者 on 最高の，を越す to 診察する the 列／漕ぐ／騒動 of mediaeval missals 陳列する，発揮するd within in a manner to show their wonderful 照明s.

"Not the 事例／患者," explained Hetty. "It is locked you see and no one has as yet 後継するd in finding the 重要な. But we searched the drawers underneath with the greatest care. Had we 精査するd the whole contents through our fingers, I could not be more 確かな that the paper is not there."

Violet stepped into the next segment.

This was the one 支配するd by the 抱擁する 解雇する／砲火／射撃-place. A rug lay before the hearth. To this Violet pointed.

Quickly the woman answered: "We not only 解除するd it, but turned it over."

"And that box at the 権利?"

"Is 十分な of 支持を得ようと努めるd and 支持を得ようと努めるd only."

"Did you take out this 支持を得ようと努めるd?"

"Every stick."

"And those ashes in the 解雇する／砲火／射撃-place? Something has been 燃やすd there."

"Yes; but not lately. Besides, those ashes are all 支持を得ようと努めるd ashes. If the least bit of charred paper had been mixed with them, we should have considered the 事柄 settled. But you can see for yourself that no such 粒子 can be 設立する." While 説 this, she had put the poker into Violet's 手渡す. "Rake them about, 行方不明になる, and make sure."

Violet did so, with the result that the poker was soon put 支援する into place, and she herself 負かす／撃墜する on her 膝s looking up the chimney.

"Had she thrust it up there," Hetty made haste to 発言／述べる, "there would have been some 調印するs of すす on her sleeves. They are white and very long and are always getting in her way when she tries to do anything."

Violet left the 解雇する／砲火／射撃-place after a ちらりと見ること at the mantel-shelf on which nothing stood but a casket of open fretwork, and two coloured photographs 機動力のある on small easels. The casket was too open to 隠す anything and the photographs 解除するd too high above the shelf for even the smallest paper, let alone a 文書 of any size, to hide behind them.

The 議長，司会を務めるs, of which there were several in this part of the room, she passed with just an 問い合わせing look. They were all of solid oak, without any 試みる／企てる at upholstery, and although carved to match the 立ち往生させるs on the other 味方する of the room, 申し込む／申し出d no place for search.

Her 延期する in the third segment was 簡潔な／要約する. Here there was 絶対 nothing but the door by which she had entered, and the 調書をとる／予約するs. As she flitted on, に引き続いて the oval of the 塀で囲む, a small frown appeared on her usually smooth forehead. She felt the 圧迫 of the 調書をとる／予約するs—the countless 調書をとる／予約するs. If indeed, she should find herself 強いるd to go through them. What a hopeless 見通し!

But she had still a segment to consider, and after that the 巨大な （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する 占領するing the centre of the room, a （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する which in its 二塁打 capacity (for it was as much desk as （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する) gave more 約束 of 持つ／拘留するing the 解答 of the mystery than anything to which she had hitherto given her attention.

The ４半期/4分の1 in which she now stood was the most beautiful, and, かもしれない, the most precious of them all. In it 炎d the five 広大な／多数の／重要な windows which were the glory of the room; but there are no hiding-places in windows, and much as she revelled in colour, she dared not waste a moment on them. There was more hope for her in the 非常に高い 立ち往生させるs, with their possible drawers for 調書をとる／予約するs.

But Hetty was before her in the 試みる／企てる she made to 解除する the lids of the two 広大な／多数の／重要な seats.

"Nothing in either," said she; and Violet, with a sigh, turned に向かって the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する.

This was an 巨大な 事件／事情／状勢, made to 融通する itself to the 形態／調整 of the room, but with a hollowed-out space on the window-味方する large enough to 持つ／拘留する a 議長，司会を務める for the sitter who would use its 最高の，を越す as a desk. On it were さまざまな articles suitable to its 二塁打 use. Without 存在 （人が）群がるd, it 陳列する，発揮するd a pile of magazines and 小冊子s, boxes for stationery, a 令状ing pad with its accompaniments, a lamp, and some few ornaments, の中で which was a large box, richly inlaid with pearl and ivory, the lid of which stood wide open.

"Don't touch," admonished Violet, as Hetty stretched out her 手渡す to move some little 反対する aside. "You have already worked here busily in the search you made this morning."

"We 扱うd everything."

"Did you go through these 小冊子s?"

"We shook open each one. We were 特に particular here, since it was at this （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する I saw Mrs. Quintard stop."

"With 長，率いる level or drooped?"

"Drooped."

"Like one looking 負かす／撃墜する, rather than up, or around?"

"Yes. A ray of red light shone on her sleeve. It seemed to me the sleeve moved as though she were reaching out."

"Will you try to stand as she did and as nearly in the same place as possible?"

Hetty ちらりと見ることd 負かす／撃墜する at the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する 辛勝する／優位, 示すd where the gules 支配するd the blue and green, and moved to that 位置／汚点／見つけ出す, and paused with her 長，率いる 沈むing slowly に向かって her breast.

"Very good," exclaimed Violet. "But the moon was probably in a very different position from what the sun is now."

"You are 権利; it was higher up; I chanced to notice it."

"Let me come," said Violet.

Hetty moved, and Violet took her place but in a 位置／汚点／見つけ出す a step or two さらに先に 前線. This brought her very 近づく to the centre of the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. Hanging her 長，率いる, just as Hetty had done, she reached out her 権利 手渡す.

"Have you looked under this blotter?" she asked, pointing に向かって the pad she touched. "I mean, between the blotter and the でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れる which 持つ／拘留するs it?"

"I certainly did," answered Hetty, with some pride.

Violet remained 星／主役にするing 負かす／撃墜する. "Then you took off everything that was lying on it?"

"Oh, yes."

Violet continued to 星／主役にする 負かす／撃墜する at the blotter. Then impetuously:

"Put them 支援する in their accustomed places."

Hetty obeyed.

Violet continued to look at them, then slowly stretched out her 手渡す, but soon let it 落ちる again with an 空気／公表する of discouragement. Certainly the 行方不明の 文書 was not in the 署名／調印する-マリファナ or the mucilage 瓶／封じ込める. Yet something made her stoop again over the pad and 支配する it to the closest scrutiny.

"If only nothing had been touched!" she inwardly sighed. But she let no 調印する of her discontent escape her lips, 簡単に exclaiming as she ちらりと見ることd up at the 非常に高い spaces 総計費: "The 調書をとる／予約するs! the 調書をとる／予約するs! Nothing remains but for you to call up all the servants, or get men from the outside and, beginning at one end—I should say the upper one—take 負かす／撃墜する every 調書をとる／予約する standing within reach of a woman of Mrs. Quintard's 高さ."

"Hear first what Mrs. Quintard has to say about that," interrupted the woman as that lady entered in a ぱたぱたする of emotion springing from more than one 原因（となる）.

"The young lady thinks that we should 除去する the 調書をとる／予約するs," Hetty 観察するd, as her mistress's 注目する，もくろむ wandered to hers from Violet's abstracted countenance.

"Useless. If we were to 請け負う to do that, Carlos would be here before half the 職業 was finished. Besides, Hetty must have told you my extreme aversion to nicely bound 調書をとる／予約するs. I will not say that when awake I never place my 手渡す on one, but once in a 明言する／公表する of somnambulism, when every natural whim has 十分な 支配（する）／統制する, I am sure that I never would. There is a 推論する／理由 for my prejudice. I was not always rich. I once was very poor. It was when I was first married and long before Clement had begun to make his fortune. I was so poor then that frequently I went hungry, and what was worse saw my little daughter cry for food. And why? Because my husband was a bibliomaniac. He would spend on 罰金 版s what would have kept the family comfortable. It is hard to believe, isn't it? I have seen him bring home a Grolier when the larder was as empty as that box; and it made me hate 調書をとる／予約するs so, 特に those of extra 罰金 binding, that I have to 涙／ほころび the covers off before I can find courage to read them."

O life! life! how 急速な／放蕩な Violet was learning it!

"I can understand your idea, Mrs. Quintard, but as everything else has failed, I should make a mistake not to 診察する these 棚上げにするs. It is just possible that we may be able to 縮める the 仕事 very materially; that we may not have to call in help, even. To what extent have they been approached, or the 調書をとる／予約するs 扱うd, since you discovered the loss of the paper we are looking for?"

"Not at all. Neither of us went 近づく them." This from Hetty.

"Nor any one else?"

"No one else has been 認める to the room. We locked both doors the moment we felt 満足させるd that the will had been left here."

"That's a 救済. Now I may be able to do something. Hetty, you look like a very strong woman, and I, as you see, am very little. Would you mind 解除するing me up to these 棚上げにするs? I want to look at them. Not at the 調書をとる／予約するs, but at the 棚上げにするs themselves."

The wondering woman stooped and raised her to the level of the shelf she had pointed out. Violet peered closely at it and then at the ones just beneath.

"Am I 激しい?" she asked; "if not, let me see those on the other 味方する of the door."

Hetty carried her over.

Violet 検査／視察するd each shelf as high as a woman of Mrs. Quintard's stature could reach, and when on her feet again, knelt to 検査／視察する the ones below.

"No one has touched or drawn anything from these 棚上げにするs in twenty-four hours," she 宣言するd. "The small accumulation of dust along their 辛勝する／優位s has not been 乱すd at any point. It was very different with the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する-最高の，を越す. That shows very plainly where you had moved things and where you had not."

"Was that what you were looking for? 井戸／弁護士席, I never!"

Violet paid no 注意する; she was thinking and thinking very 深く，強烈に.

Hetty turned に向かって her mistress, then quickly 支援する to Violet, whom she 掴むd by the arm.

"What's the 事柄 with Mrs. Quintard?" she hurriedly asked. "If it were night, I should think that she was in one of her （一定の）期間s."

Violet started and ちらりと見ることd where Hetty pointed. Mrs. Quintard was within a few feet of them, but as oblivious of their presence as though she stood alone in the room. かもしれない, she thought she did. With 直す／買収する，八百長をするd 注目する，もくろむs and mechanical step she began to move straight に向かって the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, her whole 外見 of a nature to make Hetty's 血 run 冷淡な, but to 原因（となる） that of Violet's to bound through her veins with 新たにするd hope.

"The one thing I could have wished!" she murmured under her breath. "She has fallen into a trance. She is again under the dominion of her idea. If we watch and do not 乱す her she may repeat her 活動／戦闘 of last night, and herself show where she has put this precious 文書."

一方／合間 Mrs. Quintard continued to 前進する. A moment more, and her smooth white locks caught the ruddy glow centred upon the 議長，司会を務める standing in the hollow of the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する. Words were leaving her lips, and her 手渡す, reaching out over the blotter, groped の中で the articles scattered there till it settled on a large pair of shears.

"Listen," muttered Violet to the woman 圧力（をかける）ing の近くに to her 味方する. "You are 熟知させるd with her 発言する／表明する; catch what she says if you can."

Hetty could not; an undistinguishable murmur was all that （機の）カム to her ears.

Violet took a step nearer. Mrs. Quintard's 手渡す had left the shears and was hovering uncertainly in the 空気／公表する. Her 苦しめる was evident. Her 長，率いる, no longer 安定した on her shoulders, was turning this way and that, and her トンs becoming inarticulate.

"Paper! I want paper" burst from her lips in a shrill unnatural cry.

But when they listened for more and watched to see the uncertain 手渡す settle somewhere, she suddenly （機の）カム to herself and turned upon them a startled ちらりと見ること, which speedily changed into one of the 最大の perplexity.

"What am I doing here?" she asked. "I have a feeling as if I had almost seen—almost touched—oh, it's gone! and all is blank again. Why couldn't I keep it till I knew—" Then she （機の）カム wholly to herself and, forgetting even the 疑問s of a moment since, 発言／述べるd to Violet in her old tremulous fashion:

"You asked us to pull 負かす／撃墜する the 調書をとる／予約するs? But you've evidently thought better of it."

"Yes, I have thought better of it." Then, with a last desperate hope of re-誘発するing the 見通しs lying somewhere 支援する in Mrs. Quintard's troubled brain, Violet 投機・賭けるd to 観察する: "This is likely to 解決する itself into a psychological problem, Mrs. Quintard. Do you suppose that if you fell again into the 条件 of last night, you would repeat your 活動／戦闘 and so lead us yourself to where the will lies hidden?"

"かもしれない; but it may be weeks before I walk again in my sleep, and 一方／合間 Carlos will have arrived, and Clement, かもしれない, died. My 甥 is so low that the doctor is coming 支援する at midnight. 行方不明になる Strange, Clement is a man in a thousand. He says he wants to see you. Would you be willing to …を伴って me to his room for a moment? He will not make many more requests and I will take care that the interview is not 長引かせるd."

"I will go willingly. But would it not be better to wait—"

"Then you may never see him at all."

"Very 井戸／弁護士席; but I wish I had some better news to give."

"That will come later. This house was never meant for Carlos. Hetty, you will stay here. 行方不明になる Strange, let us go now."

"You need not speak; just let him see you."

Violet nodded and followed Mrs. Quintard into the sick-room.

The sight which met her 注目する，もくろむs tried her young emotions 深く，強烈に. 星／主役にするing at her from the bed, she saw two piercing 注目する，もくろむs over whose brilliance death as yet had 伸び（る）d no 支配（する）／統制する. Clements's soul was in that gaze; Clement 停止（させる）ing at the brink of 解散 to sound the depths behind him for the hope which would make 出発 平易な. Would he see in her, a mere slip of a girl dressed in 流行の／上流の 着せる／賦与するs and 耐えるing about her all the 示すs of social distinction, the sort of person needed for the 仕事 upon the success of which depended his darlings' 未来? She could hardly 推定する／予想する it. Yet as she continued to 会合，会う his gaze with all the 真面目さ the moment 需要・要求するd, she beheld those 燃やすing orbs lose some of their 需要・要求する and the fingers, which had lain inert upon the bedspread, ぱたぱたする gently and move as if to draw attention to his wife and the three beautiful children clustered at the foot-board.

He had not spoken nor could she speak, but the solemnity with which she raised her 権利 手渡す as to a listening Heaven called 前へ／外へ upon his lips what was かもしれない his last smile, and with the memory of this faint 表現 of 信用／信任 on his part, she left the room, to make her final 試みる／企てる to solve the mystery of the 行方不明の 文書.

直面するing the 年輩の lady in the hall, she 演説（する）／住所d her with the 軍隊 and soberness of one 主要な a forlorn hope:

"I want you to concentrate your mind upon what I have to say to you. Do you think you can do this?"

"I will try," replied the poor woman with a backward ちらりと見ること at the door which had just been の近くにd upon her.

"What we want," said she, "is, as I 明言する／公表するd before, an insight into the workings of your brain at the time you took the will from the 安全な. Try and follow what I have to say, Mrs. Quintard. Dreams are no longer regarded by scientists as prophecies of the 未来 or even as spontaneous and irrelevant 条件s of thought, but as reflections of a 近づく past, which can almost without exception be traced 支援する to the occurrences which 原因（となる）d them. Your 活動／戦闘 with the will had its birth in some previous line of thought afterwards forgotten. Let us try and find that thought. 解任する, if you can, just what you did or read yesterday."

Mrs. Quintard looked 脅すd.

"But, I have no memory," she 反対するd. "I forget quickly, so quickly that ーするために 実行する my 約束／交戦s I have to keep a memorandum of every day's events. Yesterday? yesterday? What did I do yesterday? I went downtown for one thing, but I hardly know where."

"Perhaps your memorandum of yesterday's doings will help you."

"I will get it. But it won't give you the least help. I keep it only for my own 注目する，もくろむ, and—"

"Never mind; let me see it."

And she waited impatiently for it to be put in her 手渡すs.

But when she （機の）カム to read the 記録，記録的な／記録する of the last two days, this was all she 設立する:

Saturday: Mauretania nearly 予定. I must let Mr. Delahunt know today that he's 手配中の，お尋ね者 here to-morrow. Hetty will try on my dresses. Says she has to alter them. Mrs. Peabody （機の）カム to lunch, and we in such trouble! Had to go 負かす／撃墜する street. Errand for Clement. The will, the will! I think of nothing else. Is it 安全な where it is? No peace of mind till to-morrow. Clement better this afternoon. Says he must live till Carlos gets 支援する; not to 勝利 over him, but to do what he can to 少なくなる his 失望. My good Clement!

So nervous, I went to pasting photographs, and was forgetting all my troubles when Hetty brought in another dress to try on.

静かな in the 広大な／多数の／重要な house, during which the clock on the staircase sent 前へ／外へ seven musical peals. To Violet waiting alone in the library, they 行為／法令／行動するd as a 召喚するs. She was just leaving the room, when the sound of hubbub in the hall below held her motionless in the doorway. An automobile had stopped in 前線, and several persons were entering the house, in a gay and unseemly fashion. As she stood listening, uncertain of her 義務, she perceived the frenzied 人物／姿／数字 of Mrs. Quintard approaching. As she passed by, she dropped one word: "Carlos!" Then she went staggering on, to disappear a moment later 負かす／撃墜する the stairway.

This 見通し lost, another （機の）カム. This time it was that of Clements's wife leaning from the marble balustrade above, the 影をつくる／尾行する of approaching grief 戦う／戦いing with the 現在の terror in her perfect features. Then she too withdrew from 見解（をとる） and Violet, left for the moment alone in the 広大な／多数の／重要な hall, stepped 支援する into the library and began to put on her hat.

The lights had been turned up in the grand salon and it was in this scene of gorgeous colour that Mrs. Quintard （機の）カム 直面する to 直面する with Carlos Pelacios. Those who were 証言，証人／目撃する to her 入り口 say that she 現在のd a noble 外見, as with the 決意／決議 of extreme desperation she stood waiting for his first angry attack.

He, a short, 厚い-始める，決める, dark man, showing both in features and 表現 the Spanish 血 of his paternal ancestors, started to 演説（する）／住所 her in トンs of 暴力／激しさ, but changed his 公式文書，認める, as he met her 注目する，もくろむ, to one 簡単に sardonic.

"You here!" he began. "I 保証する you, madame, that it is a 楽しみ which is not without its inconveniences. Did you not receive my cablegram requesting this house to be made ready for my occupancy?"

"I did."

"Then why do I find guests here? They do not usually に先行する the arrival of their host."

"Clement is very ill—"

"So much the greater 推論する／理由 that he should have been 除去するd—"

"You were not 推定する／予想するd for two days yet. You cabled that you were coming on the Mauretania."

"Yes, I cabled that. Elisabetta,"—this to his wife standing silently in the background—"we will go to the Plaza for tonight. At three o'clock tomorrow we shall 推定する／予想する to find this house in 準備完了 for our return. Later, if Mrs. Quintard 願望（する）s to visit us we shall be pleased to receive her. But"—this to Mrs. Quintard herself—"you must come without Clement and the kids."

Mrs. Quintard's rigid 手渡す stole up to her throat.

"Clement is dying. He is failing hourly," she murmured. "He may not live till morning."

Even Carlos was taken aback by this. "Oh, 井戸／弁護士席!" said he, "we will give you two days."

Mrs. Quintard gasped, then she walked straight up to him.

"You will give us all the time his 条件 要求するs and more, much more. He is the real owner of this house, not you. My brother left a will bequeathing it to him. You are my 甥's guests, and not he yours. As his 代表者／国会議員 I entreat you and your wife to remain here until you can find a home to your mind."

The silence seethed. Carlos had a temper of 解雇する／砲火／射撃 and so had his wife. But neither spoke, till he had 伸び（る）d 十分な 支配（する）／統制する over himself to 発言／述べる without undue rancour:

"I did not think you had the wit to 影響（力） your brother to this extent; さもなければ, I should have 削減（する） my travels short." Then 厳しく: "Where is this will?"

"It will be produced." But the words 滞るd.

Carlos ちらりと見ることd at the man standing behind his wife; then 支援する at Mrs. Quintard.

"Wills are not scribbled off on deathbeds; or if they are, it needs something more than a 署名 to 合法化する them. I don't believe in this trick of a later will. Mr. Cavanagh"—here he 示すd the gentleman …を伴ってing them—"has done my father's 商売／仕事 for years, and he 保証するd me that the paper he 持つ／拘留するs in his pocket is the first, last, and only 表現 of your brother's wishes. If you are in a position to 否定する this, show us the 文書 you について言及する; show us it at once, or 知らせる us where and in whose 手渡すs it can be 設立する."

"That, for—for 推論する／理由s I cannot give, I must 辞退する to do at 現在の. But I am ready to 断言する—"

A mocking laugh 削減（する） her short. Did it 問題／発行する from his lips or from those of his highstrung and unfeeling wife? It might have come from either; there was 原因（となる） enough.

"Oh!" she 滞るd, "may God have mercy!" and was 沈むing before their 注目する，もくろむs, when she heard her 指名する, called from the threshold, and, looking that way, saw Hetty beaming upon her, 支援するd by a little 人物／姿／数字 with a 直面する so radiant that instinctively her 手渡す went out to しっかり掴む the 倍のd sheet of paper Hetty was 捜し出すing to thrust upon her.

"Ah!" she cried, in a 広大な／多数の／重要な 発言する／表明する, "you will not have to wait, nor Clement either. Here is the will! The children have come into their own." And she fell at their feet in a dead faint.

"Where did you find it? Oh! where did you find it? I have waited a week to know. When, after Carlos's sudden 出発, I stood beside Clement's death-bed and saw from the look he gave me that he could still feel and understand, I told him that you had 後継するd in your 仕事 and that all was 井戸／弁護士席 with us. But I was not able to tell him how you had 後継するd or in what place the will had been 設立する; and he died, unknowing. But we may know, may we not, now that he is laid away and there is no more talk of our leaving this house?"

Violet smiled, but very tenderly, and in a way not to 感情を害する／違反する the 会葬者. They were sitting in the library—the 広大な／多数の／重要な library which was to remain in Clement's family after all—and it amused her to follow the dreaming lady's ちらりと見ることs as they ran in irrepressible curiosity over the 塀で囲むs. Had Violet wished, she could have kept her secret forever. These 注目する，もくろむs would never have discovered it.

But she was of a 同情的な temperament, our Violet, so after a moment's 延期する, during which she 満足させるd herself that little, if anything, had been touched in the room since her 出発 from it a week before, she 静かに 観察するd:

"You were 権利 in 固執するing that you hid it in this room. It was here I 設立する it. Do you notice that photograph on the mantel which does not stand 正確に／まさに straight on its easel?"

"Yes."

"Supposing you take it 負かす／撃墜する. You can reach it, can you not?"

"Oh, yes. But what—"

"解除する it 負かす／撃墜する, dear Mrs. Quintard; and then turn it 一連の会議、交渉／完成する and look at its 支援する."

Agitated and 尋問, the lady did as she was 企て，努力，提案, and at the first ちらりと見ること gave a cry of surprise, if not of understanding. The square of brown paper, 事実上の／代理 as a 支援 to the picture, was slit across, 公表する／暴露するing a 類似の one behind it which was still 損なわれていない.

"Oh! was it hidden in here?" she asked.

"Very 完全に," assented Violet. "Pasted in out of sight by a lady who amuses herself with 開始するing and でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れるing photographs. Usually, she is conscious of her work, but this time she 成し遂げるd her 仕事 in a dream."

Mrs. Quintard was all amazement.

"I don't remember touching these pictures," she 宣言するd. "I never should have remembered. You are a wonderful person, 行方不明になる Strange. How （機の）カム you to think these photographs might have two 支援s? There was nothing to show that this was so."

"I will tell you, Mrs. Quintard. You helped me."

"I helped you?"

"Yes. You remember the memorandum you gave me? In it you について言及するd pasting photographs. But this was not enough in itself to lead me to 診察する those on the mantel, if you had not given me another suggestion a little while before. We did not tell you this, Mrs. Quintard, at the time, but during the search we were making here that day, you had a lapse into that peculiar 明言する／公表する which induces you to walk in your sleep. It was a short one, 継続している but a moment, but in a moment one can speak, and, this you did—"

"Spoke? I spoke?"

"Yes, you uttered the word 'paper!' not the paper, but 'paper!' and reached out に向かって the shears. Though I had not much time to think of it then, afterwards upon reading your memorandum I 解任するd your words, and asked myself if it was not paper to 削減（する）, rather than to hide, you 手配中の，お尋ね者. If it was to 削減（する）, and you were but repeating the experience of the night before, then the room should 含む／封じ込める some 残余s of 削減（する） paper. Had we seen any? Yes, in the basket, under the desk we had taken out and thrown 支援する again a （土地などの）細長い一片 or so of wrapping paper, which, if my memory did not fail me, showed a clean-削減（する） 辛勝する／優位. To pull this （土地などの）細長い一片 out again and spread it flat upon the desk was the work of a minute, and what I saw led me to look all over the room, not now for the 倍のd 文書, but for a square of brown paper, such as had been taken out of this larger sheet. Was I successful? Not for a long while, but when I （機の）カム to the photographs on the mantel and saw how nearly they corresponded in 形態／調整 and size to what I was looking for, I 解任するd again your fancy for 開始するing photographs and felt that the mystery was solved.

"A ちらりと見ること at the 支援する of one of them brought 失望, but when I turned about its mate—You know what I 設立する underneath the outer paper. You had laid the will against the 初めの 支援 and 簡単に pasted another one over it.

"That the 発見 （機の）カム in time to 削減（する） short a very painful interview has made me joyful for a week.

"And now may I see the children?"

End Of Problem V

Problem VI
The House Of Clocks

行方不明になる Strange was not in a responsive mood. This her 雇用者 had 観察するd on first entering; yet he showed no hesitation in laying on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する behind which she had ensconced herself in the 態度 of one 包囲するd, an envelope 厚い with enclosed papers.

"There," said he. "Telephone me when you have read them."

"I shall not read them."

"No?" he smiled; and, repossessing himself of the envelope, he tore off one end, 抽出するd the sheets with which it was filled, and laid them 負かす／撃墜する still 広げるd, in their former place on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する-最高の，を越す.

The suggestiveness of the 活動／戦闘 原因（となる）d the corners of 行方不明になる Srange's delicate lips to twitch wistfully, before settling into an ironic smile.

Calmly the other watched her.

"I am on a vacation," she loftily explained, as she finally met his studiously 非，不，無-quizzical ちらりと見ること. "Oh, I know that I am in my own home!" she petulantly 定評のある, as his gaze took in the room; "and that the automobile is at the door; and that I'm dressed for shopping. But for all that I'm on a vacation—a mental one," she 強調するd; "and 商売／仕事 must wait. I 港／避難所't got over the last 事件／事情／状勢," she 抗議するd, as he 持続するd a 控えめの silence, "and the season is so gay just now—so many balls, so many—But that isn't the worst. Father is beginning to wake up—and if he ever 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うs—" A 重要な gesture ended this 控訴，上告.

The personage knew her father—everyone did—and the wonder had always been that she dared run the 危険 of displeasing one so implacable. Though she was his favourite child, Peter Strange was known to be やめる 有能な of cutting her off with a shilling, once his の近くに, prejudiced mind conceived it to be his 義務. And that he would so 解釈する／通訳する the 状況／情勢, if he ever （機の）カム to learn the secret of his daughter's fits of abstraction and the sly bank account she was slowly 蓄積するing, the personage 持つ／拘留するing out this dangerous 誘惑する had no 疑問 at all. Yet he only smiled at her words and 発言／述べるd in casual suggestion:

"It's out of town this time—'way out. Your health certainly 需要・要求するs a change of 空気／公表する."

"My health is good. Fortunately, or unfortunately, as one may choose to look at it, it furnishes me with no excuse for an 遠出," she 刻々と retorted, turning her 支援する on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する.

"Ah, excuse me!" the insidious 発言する／表明する わびるd, "your paleness misled me. Surely a night or two's change might be 有益な."

She gave him a quick 味方する look, and began to adjust her boa.

To this hint he paid no attention.

"The 事件／事情／状勢 is やめる out of the ordinary," he 追求するd in the トン of one rehearsing a part. But there he stopped. For some 推論する／理由, not altogether 明らかな to the masculine mind, the pin of flashing 石／投石するs (real 石／投石するs) which held her hat in place had to be taken out and thrust 支援する again, not once, but twice. It was to watch this 業績／成果 he had paused. When he was ready to proceed, he took the musing トン of one marshalling facts for another's enlightenment:

"A woman of unknown instincts—"

"Pshaw!" The end of the pin would strike against the 徹底的に捜す 持つ／拘留するing Violet's chestnut-coloured locks.

"Living in a house as mysterious as the secret it 含む／封じ込めるs. But—" here he 許すd his patience 明らかに to forsake him, "I will bore you no longer. Go to your teas and balls; I will struggle with my dark 事件／事情／状勢s alone."

His 手渡す went to the packet of papers she 影響する／感情d so ostentatiously to despise. He could be as nonchalant as she. But he did not 解除する them; he let them 嘘（をつく）. Yet the young heiress had not made a movement or even turned the slightest ちらりと見ること his way.

"A woman difficult to understand! A mysterious house—かもしれない a mysterious 罪，犯罪!"

Thus Violet kept repeating in silent self-communion, as 紅潮／摘発するd with dancing she sat that evening in a 高度に-scented 温室, dividing her attention between the compliments of her partner and the splash of a fountain 泡ing in the heart of this 集まり of 熱帯の foliage; and when some hours later she sat 負かす／撃墜する in her chintz-furnished bedroom for a few minutes' thought before retiring, it was to draw from a little oak box at her 肘 the half-dozen or so 倍のd sheets of closely written paper which had been left for her perusal by her 執拗な 雇用者.

ちらりと見ることing first at the 署名 and finding it to be one already favourably known at the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業, she read with avidity the 声明 of events thus vouched for, finding them curious enough in all 良心 to keep her awake for another 十分な hour.

We here subscribe it:

I am a lawyer with an office in the Times Square Building. My 商売／仕事 is おもに 地元の, but いつかs I am called out of town, as 証言，証人／目撃する the に引き続いて 召喚するs received by me on the fifth of last October.

DEAR SIR,—

I wish to make my will. I am an 無効の and cannot leave my room. Will you come to me? The enclosed 言及／関連 will answer for my respectability. If it 満足させるs you and you decide to 融通する me, please 急いで your visit; I have not many days to live. A carriage will 会合，会う you at Highland 駅／配置する at any hour you 指定する. Telegraph reply.

A. Postlethwaite, Gloom Cottage, —, N. J.

The 言及／関連 given was a Mr. 少しのd of Eighty-sixth Street—a 井戸／弁護士席-known man of unimpeachable 評判.

Calling him up at his 商売／仕事 office, I asked him what he could tell me about Mr. Postlethwaite of Gloom Cottage, —, N. J. The answer astonished me:

"There is no Mr. Postlethwaite to be 設立する at that 演説（する）／住所. He died years ago. There is a Mrs. Postlethwaite—a 確認するd paralytic. Do you mean her?"

I ちらりと見ることd at the letter still lying open at the 味方する of the telephone:

"The 署名 reads A. Postlethwaite."

"Then it's she. Her 指名する is Arabella. She hates the 指名する, 存在 a woman of no 感情. Uses her 初期のs even on her cheques. What does she want of you?"

"To draw her will."

"強いる her. It'll be experience for you." And he slammed home the receiver.

I decided to follow the suggestion so 強制的に 強調するd; and the next day saw me at Highland 駅／配置する. A superannuated horse and a still more superannuated carriage を待つd me—both too old to serve a busy man in these days of swift conveyance. Could this be a 見本 of the 設立 I was about to enter? Then I remembered that the woman who had sent for me was a helpless 無効の, and probably had no use for any sort of 人出／投票者数.

The driver was in keeping with the 乗り物, and as 曖昧な as the plodding beast he drove. If I 投機・賭けるd upon a 発言／述べる, he gave me a long and curious look; if I went so far as to attack him with a direct question, he 答える／応じるd with a hitch of the shoulder or a 疑わしい smile which 伝えるd nothing. Was he deaf or just unpleasant? I soon learned that he was not deaf; for suddenly, after a jog-trot of a mile or so through a wooded road which we had entered from the main 主要道路, he drew in his horse, and, without ちらりと見ることing my way, spoke his first word:

"This is where you get out. The house is 支援する there in the bushes."

As no house was 明白な and the bushes rose in an 無傷の 障壁 along the road, I 星／主役にするd at him in some 疑問 of his sanity.

"But—" I began; a 抗議する into which he at once broke, with the sharp direction:

"Take the path. It'll lead you straight to the 前線 door."

"I don't see any path."

For this he had no answer; and 確信して from his 表現 that it would be useless to 推定する／予想する anything その上の from him, I dropped a coin into his 手渡す, and jumped to the ground. He was off before I could turn myself about.

"'Something is rotten in the 明言する／公表する of Denmark,'" I 引用するd in startled comment to myself; and not knowing what else to do, 星／主役にするd 負かす／撃墜する at the turf at my feet.

A bit of flagging met my 注目する，もくろむ, protruding from a 層 of 厚い moss. さらに先に on I 遠くに見つけるd another—the second, probably, of many. This, no 疑問, was the path I had been bidden to follow, and without その上の thought on the 支配する, I 急落（する），激減（する）d into the bushes which with difficulty I made give way before me.

For a moment all その上の 前進する looked hopeless. A more 絡まるd, uninviting approach to a いわゆる home, I had never seen outside of the tropics; and the 完全にする neglect thus 陳列する，発揮するd should have 用意が出来ている me for the 外見 of the house I 突然に （機の）カム upon, just as, the way seemed on the point of の近くにing up before me.

But nothing could 井戸／弁護士席 準備する one for a first 見解（をとる） of Gloom Cottage. Its 場所 in a hollow which had 徐々に filled itself up with trees and some 肉親，親類d of prickly 小衝突, its 深く，強烈に stained 塀で囲むs, once picturesque enough in their 配合 but too 深く，強烈に hidden now まっただ中に rotting boughs to produce any other 影響 than that of shrouded desolation, the sough of these same boughs as they rapped a devil's tattoo against each other, and the absence of even the rising column of smoke which bespeaks 国内の life wherever seen—all gave to one who remembered the cognomen Cottage and forgot the pre-cognomen of Gloom, a sense of buried life as sepulchral as that which emanates from the mouth of some freshly opened tomb.

But these impressions, natural enough to my 青年, were やむを得ず transient, and soon gave way to others more 商売／仕事-like. Perceiving the curve of an arch rising above the undergrowth still 封鎖するing my approach, I 押し進めるd my way resolutely through, and presently 設立する myself つまずくing upon the steps of an 突然に spacious 住所／本籍, built not of 支持を得ようと努めるd, as its 指名する of Cottage had led me to 推定する／予想する, but of carefully 削減（する） 石／投石する which, while showing every 示す of time, 布告するd itself one of those 早期に, carefully 築くd 植民地の 住居s which it takes more than a century to destroy, or even to wear to the point of dilapidation.

Somewhat encouraged, though failing to （悪事，秘密などを）発見する any 調印するs of active life in the ひどく shuttered windows frowning upon me from either 味方する, I ran up the steps and rang the bell which pulled as hard as if no 手渡す had touched it in years.

Then I waited.

But not to （犯罪の）一味 again; for just as my 手渡す was approaching the bell a second time, the door fell 支援する and I beheld in the 黒人／ボイコット gap before me the oldest man I had ever come upon in my whole life. He was so old I was astonished when his drawn lips opened and he asked if I was the lawyer from New York. I would as soon have 推定する／予想するd a mummy to wag its tongue and utter English, he looked so thin and 乾燥した，日照りのd and 除去するd from this life and all worldly 関心s.

But when I had answered his question and he had turned to 保安官 me 負かす／撃墜する the hall に向かって a door I could dimly see standing open in the twilight of an 絶対 sunless 内部の, I noticed that his step was not without some vigour, にもかかわらず the feeble bend of his withered 団体／死体 and the incessant swaying of his 長，率いる, which seemed to be continually 説 No!

"I will 準備する madam," he admonished me, after 製図／抽選 a ponderous curtain two インチs or いっそう少なく aside from one of the windows. "She is very ill, but she will see you."

The トン was senile, but it was the senility of an educated man, and as the cultivated accents wavered 前へ／外へ, my mind changed in regard to the position he held in the house. 利益／興味d もう一度, I sought to give him another look, but he had already 消えるd through the doorway, and so noiselessly, it was more like a 影をつくる／尾行する's flitting than a man's 撤退.

The 不明瞭 in which I sat was 絶対の; but 徐々に, as I continued to look about me, the spaces lightened and 確かな 詳細（に述べる）s （機の）カム out, which to my astonishment were of a character to show that the plain if 相当な exterior of this house with its choked-up approaches and weedy gardens was no 見本 of what was to be 設立する inside. Though the 塀で囲むs surrounding me were dismal because unlighted, they betrayed a splendour unusual in any country house. The frescoes and 絵s were of an 古代の order, dating from days when life and not death 統治するd in this 孤立するd dwelling; but in them high art 統治するd 最高の, an art so high and so finished that only 広大な／多数の／重要な wealth, 連合させるd with the most cultivated taste, could have produced such 影響s. I was still 吸収するd in the wonder of it all, when the 静かな 発言する／表明する of the old gentleman who had let me in reached me again from the doorway, and I heard:

"Madam is ready for you. May I trouble you to …を伴って me to her room."

I rose with alacrity. I was anxious to see madam, if only to 満足させる myself that she was as 利益／興味ing as the house in which she was self-immured.

I 設立する her a 広大な／多数の／重要な 取引，協定 more so. But before I enter upon our interview, let me について言及する a fact which had attracted my attention in my passage to her room. During his absence my guide evidently had pulled aside other curtains than those of the room in which he had left me. The hall, no longer a tunnel of 不明瞭, gave me a glimpse as we went by, of さまざまな secluded corners, and it seemed as if everywhere I looked I saw—a clock. I counted four before I reached the staircase, all standing on the 床に打ち倒す and all of 古代の make, though 異なるing much in 外見 and value. A fifth one rose grim and tall at the stair foot, and under an impulse I have never understood I stopped, when I reached it, to 公式文書，認める the time. But it had paused in its 仕事, and 直面するd me with motionless 手渡すs and silent 作品—a fact which somehow startled me; perhaps, because just then I 遭遇（する）d the old man's 注目する，もくろむ watching me with an 表現 as challenging as it was unintelligible.

I had 推定する／予想するd to see a woman in bed. I saw instead, a woman sitting up. You felt her 影響（力） the moment you entered her presence. She was not young; she was not beautiful;—never had been I should 裁判官,—she had not even the usual 示すs about her of an ultra strong personality; but that her will was 法律, had always been, and would continue to be 法律 so long as she lived, was 特許 to any 注目する，もくろむ at the first ちらりと見ること. She exacted obedience consciously and unconsciously, and she exacted it with charm. Some few people in the world 所有する this 力／強力にする. They frown, and the …に反対するing will 弱めるs; they smile, and all hearts succumb. I was hers from the moment I crossed the threshold till—But I will relate the happenings of that instant when it comes.

She was alone, or so I thought, when I made my first 屈服する to her 厳しい but not unpleasing presence. Seated in a 広大な／多数の／重要な 議長，司会を務める, with a silver tray before her 含む／封じ込めるing such little 事柄s as she stood in hourly need of, she 直面するd me with a piercing gaze startling to behold in 注目する，もくろむs so colourless. Then she smiled, and in obedience to that smile I seated myself in a 議長，司会を務める placed very 近づく her own. Was she too paralysed to 表明する herself 明確に? I waited in some 苦悩 till she spoke, when this 恐れる 消えるd. Her 発言する／表明する betrayed the character her features failed to 表明する. It was 会社／堅い, resonant, and instinct with 命令（する）. Not loud, but 侵入するing, and of a 質 which made one listen with his heart 同様に as with his ears. What she said is immaterial. I was there for a 確かな 目的 and we entered すぐに upon the 商売／仕事 of that 目的. She talked and I listened, mostly without comment. Only once did I interrupt her with a suggestion; and as this led to 限定された results, I will proceed to relate the occurrence in 十分な.

In the few hours remaining to me before leaving New York, I had learned (no 事柄 how) some 付加 particulars 関心ing herself and family; and when after some minor bequests, she proceeded to 指名する the parties to whom she 願望（する）d to leave the 本体，大部分／ばら積みの of her fortune, I 投機・賭けるd, with some astonishment at my own temerity, to 発言／述べる:

"But you have a young 親族! Is she not to be 含むd in this partition of your 所有物／資産／財産?"

A hush. Then a smile （機の）カム to life on her stiff lips, such as is seldom seen, thank God, on the 直面する of any woman, and I heard:

"The young 親族 of whom you speak, is in the room. She has known for some time that I have no 意向 of leaving anything to her. There is, in fact, small chance of her ever needing it."

The latter 宣告，判決 was a muttered one, but that it was loud enough to be heard in all parts of the room I was soon 保証するd. For a quick sigh, which was almost a gasp, followed from a corner I had hitherto ignored, and upon ちらりと見ることing that way, I perceived, peering upon us from the 影をつくる／尾行するs, the white 直面する of a young girl in whose drawn features and wide, 星／主役にするing 注目する，もくろむs I beheld such 証拠s of terror, that in an instant, whatever predilection I had hitherto felt for my （弁護士の）依頼人, 消えるd in 不信, if not 肯定的な aversion.

I was still under the sway of this new impression, when Mrs. Postlethwaite's 発言する／表明する rose again, this time 演説（する）／住所ing the young girl:

"You may go," she said, with such 軍隊 in the 命令（する） for all its honeyed modulation, that I 推定する／予想するd to see its 反対する 飛行機で行く the room in 脅すd obedience.

But though the startled girl had lost 非，不，無 of the terror which had made her 直面する like a mask, no 力／強力にする of movement remained to her. A picture of hopeless 悲惨, she stood for one breathless moment, with her 注目する，もくろむs 直す／買収する，八百長をするd in unmistakable 控訴，上告 on 地雷; then she began to sway so helplessly that I leaped with bounding heart to catch her. As she fell into my 武器 I heard her sigh as before. No ありふれた anguish spoke in that sigh. I had つまずくd unwittingly upon a 悲劇, to the meaning of which I held but a doubtful 重要な.

"She seems very ill," I 観察するd with some 強調, as I turned to lay my helpless 重荷（を負わせる） on a 近づく-by sofa.

"She's doomed."

The words were spoken with gloom and with an 試みる／企てる at commiseration which no longer rang true in my ears.

"She is as sick a woman as I am myself," continued Mrs. Postlethwaite. "That is why I made the 発言／述べる I did, never imagining she would hear me at that distance. Do not put her 負かす／撃墜する. My nurse will be here in a moment to relieve you of your 重荷（を負わせる）."

A tinkle …を伴ってd these words. The resolute woman had stretched out a finger, of whose use she was not やめる 奪うd, and touched a little bell standing on the tray before her, an インチ or two from her 手渡す.

Pleased to obey her 命令（する）, I paused at the sofa's 辛勝する／優位, and taking advantage of the momentary 延期する, 熟考する／考慮するd the youthful countenance 圧力（をかける）d unconsciously to my breast.

It was one whose 控訴，上告 lay いっそう少なく in its beauty, though that was of a touching 質, than in the story it told,—a story, which for some unaccountable 推論する／理由—I did not pause to 決定する what one—I felt it to be my 即座の 義務 to know. But I asked no questions then; I did not even 投機・賭ける a comment; and 産する／生じるd her up with seeming 準備完了 when a strong but 非，不，無 too intelligent woman （機の）カム running in with 武器 outstretched to carry her off. When the door had の近くにd upon these two, the silence of my （弁護士の）依頼人 drew my attention 支援する to herself.

"I am waiting," was her 静かな 観察, and without any その上の 言及／関連 to what had just taken place under our 注目する，もくろむs, she went on with the 商売／仕事 以前 占領するing us.

I was able to do my part without any too 広大な／多数の／重要な 陳列する，発揮する of my own 騒動. The clearness of my remarkable （弁護士の）依頼人's 指示／教授／教育s, the definiteness with which her mind was made up as to the 処分 of every dollar of her 広大な 所有物／資産／財産, made it 平易な for me to master each 詳細（に述べる） and make careful 公式文書，認める of every wish. But this did not 妨げる the ebb and flow within me of an undercurrent of thought 十分な of question and uneasiness. What had been the real 趣旨 of the scene to which I had just been made a surprised 証言，証人／目撃する? The few, but certainly unusual, facts which had been given me in regard to the 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の relations 存在するing between these two closely connected women will explain the intensity of my 利益／興味. Those facts shall be yours.

Arabella Merwin, when young, was gifted with a peculiar fascination which, as we have seen, had not altogether 消えるd with age. その結果 she had many lovers, の中で them two brothers, Frank and Andrew Postlethwaite. The latter was the older, the handsomer, and the most 繁栄する (his 指名する is remembered yet in 関係 with South American 計画／陰謀s of large importance), but it was Frank she married.

That real love, ardent if 不当な, lay at the 底（に届く） of her choice, is evident enough to those who followed the career of the young couple. But it was a jealous love which brooked no 競争相手, and as Frank Postlethwaite was of an impulsive and erratic nature, scenes soon occurred between them which, while 明らかにする／漏らすing the 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 軍隊 of the young wife's character, led to no serious break till after her son was born, and this, notwithstanding the fact that Frank had long given up making a living, and that they were 率直に 扶養家族 on their 豊富な brother, now 急速な／放蕩な approaching the millionaire status.

This brother—the Peruvian King, as some called him—must have been an 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の man. Though 心にいだくing his affection for the spirited Arabella to the point of remaining a bachelor for her sake, he betrayed 非，不，無 of the usual 調印するs of disappointed love; but on the contrary made every 成果／努力 to 前進する her happiness, not only by 保証するing to herself and husband an 適する income, but by doing all he could in other and いっそう少なく open ways to 少なくなる any sense she might entertain of her mistake in preferring for her lifemate his self-centred and 安定性のない brother. She should have adored him; but though she evinced 感謝 enough, there is nothing to 証明する that she ever gave Frank Postlethwaite the least 原因（となる） to 心にいだく any other 感情 に向かって his brother than that of honest love and unqualified 尊敬（する）・点. Perhaps he never did 心にいだく any other. Perhaps the change which everyone saw in the young couple すぐに after the birth of their only child was 予定 to another 原因（となる）. Gossip is silent on this point. All that it 主張するs upon is that from this time 証拠s of a growing estrangement between them became so obvious that even the indulgent Andrew could not blind himself to it; showing his sense of trouble, not by 少なくなるing their income, for that he 二塁打d, but by spending more time in Peru and いっそう少なく in New York where the two were living.

However,—and here we enter upon those 詳細（に述べる）s which I have 投機・賭けるd to characterize as uncommon, he was in this country and in the actual company of his brother when the 事故 occurred which 終結させるd both their lives. It was the old story of a skidding モーター, and Mrs. Postlethwaite, having been sent for in 広大な／多数の／重要な haste to the small inn into which the two 負傷させるd men had been carried, arrived only in time to 証言，証人／目撃する their last moments. Frank died first and Andrew some few minutes later—an important fact, as was afterwards shown when the latter's will （機の）カム to be read.

This will was a peculiar one. By its 準備／条項s the 本体，大部分／ばら積みの of the King's 広大な／多数の／重要な 所有物／資産／財産 was left to his brother Frank, but with this especial 規定 that in 事例／患者 his brother failed to 生き残る him, the 十分な 遺産／遺物 as bequeathed to him should be given 無条件に to his 未亡人. Frank's demise, as I have already 明言する／公表するd, に先行するd his brother's by several minutes and その結果 Arabella became the 長，指導者 legatee; and that is how she 得るd her millions. But—and here a startling feature comes in—when the will （機の）カム to be 治めるd, the secret underlying the break between Frank and his wife was brought to light by a 発覚 of the fact that he had practised a 広大な／多数の／重要な deception upon her at the time of his marriage. Instead of 存在 a bachelor as was 現在／一般に believed, he was in reality a widower, and the father of a child. This fact, so long held secret, had become hers when her own child was born; and 構成するd as she was, she not only never forgave the father, but conceived such a 憎悪 for the innocent 反対する of their quarrel that she 辞退するd to 収容する／認める its （人命などを）奪う，主張するs or even to 認める its 存在.

But later—after his death, in fact—she showed some sense of 義務 に向かって one who under ordinary 条件s would have 株d her wealth. When the whole story became heard, and she discovered that this secret had been kept from his brother 同様に as from herself, and that その結果 no 準備／条項 had been made in any way for the child thus thrown 直接／まっすぐに upon her mercy, she did the generous thing and took the forsaken girl into her own home. But she never betrayed the least love for her, her whole heart 存在 bound up in her boy, who was, as all agree, a prodigy of talent.

But this boy, for all his 約束 and seeming strength of 憲法, died when barely seven years old, and the desolate mother was left with nothing to fill her heart but the uncongenial daughter of her husband's first wife. The fact that this child, slighted as it had hitherto been, would, in the event of her uncle having passed away before her father, have been the undisputed heiress of a large 部分 of the wealth now at the 処分 of her arrogant step-mother, led many to 推定する／予想する, now that the boy was no more, that Mrs. Postlethwaite would proceed to 認める the little Helena as her 相続人, and give her that place in the 世帯 to which her natural （人命などを）奪う，主張するs する権利を与えるd her.

But no such result followed. The passion of grief into which the mother was thrown by the shipwreck of all her hopes left her hard and implacable, and when, as very soon happened, she fell a 犠牲者 to the 病気 which tied her to her 議長，司会を務める and made the wealth which had come to her by such a peculiar ordering of circumstances little else than a mockery even in her own 注目する，もくろむs, it was upon this child she expended the 十分な 基金 of her secret bitterness.

And the child? What of her? How did she 耐える her unhappy 運命／宿命 when she grew old enough to realize it? With a 辞職 which was the wonder of all who knew her. No murmurs escaped her lips, nor was the devotion she invariably 陳列する，発揮するd to the exacting 無効の who 支配するd her 同様に as all the 残り／休憩（する） of her 世帯 with a 棒 of アイロンをかける ever 乱すd by the least 調印する of reproach. Though the riches, which in those 早期に days 注ぐd into the home in a 手段 far beyond the needs of its mistress, were expended in making the house beautiful rather than in making the one young life within it happy, she never was heard to utter so much as a wish to leave the 塀で囲むs within which 運命／宿命 had immured her. Content, or seemingly content, with the only home she knew, she never asked for change or 需要・要求するd friends or amusements. 訪問者s 中止するd coming; desolation followed neglect. The garden, once a glory, succumbed to a 暴動 of 少しのd and 望ましくない 小衝突, till a 非常に高い 塀で囲む seemed to be drawn about the house cutting it off from the activities of the world as it 削減（する） it off from the approach of 日光 by day, and the 慰安 of a 星／主役にする-lit heaven by night. And yet the young girl continued to smile, though with a pitifulness of late, which some thought betokened secret terror and others the wasting of a 団体／死体 too 極度の慎重さを要する for such unwholesome seclusion.

These were the facts, known if not consciously 専攻するd, which gave to the latter part of my interview with Mrs. Postlethwaite a poignancy of 利益／興味 which had never …に出席するd any of my former experiences. The peculiar 態度 of 行方不明になる Postlethwaite に向かって her indurate tormentor awakened in my agitated mind something much deeper than curiosity, but when I strove to speak her 指名する with the 意図 of 問い合わせing more 特に into her 条件, such a look 直面するd me from the 安定した 注目する，もくろむ immovably 直す／買収する，八百長をするd upon my own, that my courage—or was it my natural 警戒—bade me subdue the impulse and 危険 no 試みる／企てる which might betray the depth of my 利益／興味 in one so 完全に outside the 範囲 of the 現在の moment's 商売／仕事. Perhaps Mrs. Postlethwaite 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がるd my struggle; perhaps she was wholly blind to it. There was no reading the mind of this woman of sentimental 指名する but inflexible nature, and realizing the fact more fully with every word she uttered I left her at last with no その上の betrayal of my feelings than might be evinced by the earnestness with which I 約束d to return for her 署名 at the earliest possible moment.

This she had herself requested, 説 as I rose:

"I can still 令状 my 指名する if the paper is 押し進めるd carefully along under my 手渡す. See to it that you come while the 力／強力にする remains to me."

I had hoped that in my passage downstairs I might run upon someone who would give me news of 行方不明になる Postlethwaite, but the woman who approached to 行為／行う me downstairs was not of an 外見 to 招待する 信用／信任, and I felt 軍隊d to leave the house with my 疑問s unsatisfied.

Two memories, 平等に 際立った, followed me. One was a picture of Mrs. Postlethwaite's fingers groping の中で her 所持品 on the little tray perched upon her （競技場の）トラック一周, and another of the 意図 and strangely bent 人物／姿／数字 of the old man who had 行為／法令／行動するd as my 勧める, listening to the ticking of one of the 広大な／多数の／重要な clocks. So 吸収するd was he in this 占領／職業 that he not only failed to notice me when I went by, but he did not even 解除する his 長，率いる at my cheery 迎える／歓迎するing. Such mysteries were too much for me, and led me to 延期する my 出発 from town till I had sought out Mrs. Postlethwaite's doctor and propounded to him one or two 主要な questions. First, would Mrs. Postlethwaite's 現在の 条件 be likely to 持つ／拘留する good till Monday; and secondly, was the young lady living with her as ill as her step-mother said.

He was a 穏やかな old man of the 平易な-going type, and the answers I got from him were far from 満足な. Yet he showed some surprise when I について言及するd the extent of Mrs. Postlethwaite's 苦悩 about her step-daughter, and paused, in the 疑わしい shaking of his 長，率いる, to give me a short 星／主役にする in which I read as much 決意 as perplexity.

"I will look into 行方不明になる Postlethwaite's 事例／患者 more 特に," were his parting words. And with this one gleam of 慰安 I had to be content.

Monday's interview was a 簡潔な／要約する one and 含む／封じ込めるd nothing 価値（がある） repeating. Mrs. Postlethwaite listened with stoical satisfaction to the reading of the will I had drawn up, and upon its 完成 rang her bell for the two 証言，証人／目撃するs を待つing her 召喚するs, in an 隣接するing room. They were not of her 世帯, but to all 外見 honest 村人s with but one noticeable characteristic, an overweening idea of Mrs. Postlethwaite's importance. Perhaps the （一定の）期間 she had so liberally woven for others in other and happier days was felt by them at this hour. It would not be strange; I had almost fallen under it myself, so 広大な／多数の／重要な was the fascination of her manner even in this 難破させる of her bodily 力／強力にするs, when 勝利 保証するd, she 直面するd us all in a 明言する／公表する of 完全にする satisfaction.

But before I was again やめる of the place, all my 疑問s returned and in fuller 軍隊 than ever. I had ぐずぐず残るd in my going as much as decency would 許す, hoping to hear a step on the stair or see a 直面する in some doorway which would 否定する Mrs. Postlethwaite's 冷淡な 保証／確信 that 行方不明になる Postlethwaite was no better. But no such step did I hear, and no 直面する did I see save the old, old one of the 古代の friend or 親族, whose bent でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れる seemed continually to haunt the halls. As before, he stood listening to the monotonous ticking of one of the clocks, muttering to himself and やめる oblivious of my presence.

However, this time I decided not to pass him without a more 執拗な 試みる／企てる to 伸び（る） his notice. Pausing at his 味方する, I asked him in the friendly トン I thought best calculated to attract his attention, how 行方不明になる Postlethwaite was to-day. He was so 意図 upon his 仕事, whatever that was, that while he turned my way, it was with a ちらりと見ること as blank as that of a 石／投石する image.

"Listen!" he admonished me. "It still says No! No! I don't think it will ever say anything else."

I 星／主役にするd at him in some びっくり仰天, then at the clock itself which was the tall one I had 設立する run 負かす／撃墜する at my first visit. There was nothing unusual in its 静かな tick, so far as I could hear, and with a compassionate ちらりと見ること at the old man who had turned breathlessly again to listen, proceeded on my way without another word.

The old fellow was daft. A century old, and daft.

I had worked my way out through the vines which still encumbered the porch, and was taking my first steps 負かす／撃墜する the walk, when some impulse made me turn and ちらりと見ること up at one of the windows.

Did I bless the impulse? I thought I had every 推論する／理由 for doing so, when through a 網状組織 of interlacing 支店s I beheld the young girl with whom my mind was wholly 占領するd, standing with her 長，率いる thrust 今後, watching the 降下／家系 of something small and white which she had just 解放（する）d from her 手渡す.

A 公式文書，認める! A 公式文書，認める written by her and meant for me! With a 感謝する look in her direction (which was probably lost upon her as she had already drawn 支援する out of sight), I sprang for it only to 会合，会う with 失望. For it was no billet-doux I received from まっただ中に the clustering 小衝突 where it had fallen; but a small square of white cloth showing a line of fantastic embroidery. Annoyed beyond 手段, I was about to fling it 負かす／撃墜する again, when the thought that it had come from her 手渡す deterred me, and I thrust it into my vest pocket. When I took it out again—which was soon after I had taken my seat in the car—I discovered what a mistake I should have made if I had followed my first impulse. For, upon 診察するing the stitches more carefully, I perceived that what I had considered a mere decorative pattern was in fact a string of letters, and that these letters made words, and that these words were:

IDONOTWANTTODIEBUTISURELYWILLIF

Or, in plain 令状ing:

"I do not want to die, but I surely will if—"

Finish the 宣告，判決 for me. That is the problem I 申し込む／申し出 you. It is not a 事例／患者 for the police but one 井戸／弁護士席 価値（がある） your attention, if you 後継する in reaching the heart of this mystery and saving this young girl.

Only, let no 延期する occur. The doom, if doom it is, is immanent. Remember that the will is 調印するd.

"She is too small; I did not ask you to send me a midget."

Thus spoke Mrs. Postlethwaite to her doctor, as he introduced into her presence a little 人物／姿／数字 in nurse's cap and apron. "You said I needed care,—more care than I was receiving. I answered that my old nurse could give it, and you 反対するd that she or someone else must look after 行方不明になる Postlethwaite. I did not see the necessity, but I never 否定する a doctor. So I 産する／生じるd to your wishes, but not without the proviso (you remember that I made a proviso) that whatever sort of young woman you chose to introduce into this room, she should not be fresh from the training schools, and that she should be strong, silent, and 有能な. And you bring me this mite of a woman—is she a woman? she looks more like a child, of pleasing countenance enough, but who can no more 解除する me—"

"容赦 me!" Little 行方不明になる Strange had 前進するd. "I think, if you will 許す me the 特権, madam, that I can 転換 you into a much more comfortable position." And with a deftness and 緩和する certainly not to be 推定する／予想するd from one of her slight physique, Violet raised the helpless 無効の a trifle more upon her pillow.

The 行為／法令／行動する, its manner, and the smile …を伴ってing it, could not fail to please, and undoubtedly did, though no word rewarded her from lips not much given to speech save when the occasion was imperative. But Mrs. Postlethwaite made no その上の 反対 to her presence, and, seeing this, the doctor's countenance relaxed and he left the room with a much はしけ step than that with which he had entered it.

And thus it was that Violet Strange—an adept in more ways than one—became 任命する／導入するd at the 病人の枕元 of this mysterious woman, whose days, if numbered, still held 可能性s of 活動／戦闘 which those 利益／興味d in young Helena Postlethwaite's 運命／宿命 would do 井戸／弁護士席 to 認める.

行方不明になる Strange had been at her 地位，任命する for two days, and had gathered up the に引き続いて:

That Mrs. Postlethwaite must be obeyed.

That her step-daughter (who did not wish to die) would die if she knew it to be the wish of this domineering but 明らかに idolized woman.

That the old man of the clocks, while senile in some regards, was very 警報 and やめる youthful in others. If a century old—which she began 大いに to 疑問—he had the language and manner of one in his prime, when 影響を受けない by the neighbourhood of the clocks, which seemed in some 非，不，無-理解できる way to 演習 an occult 影響（力） over him. At （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する he was an entertaining host; but neither there nor どこかよそで would he discuss the family, or dilate in any way upon the peculiarities of a 世帯 of which he manifestly regarded himself as the least important member. Yet no one knew them better, and when Violet became やめる 保証するd of this, 同様に as of the futility of looking for explanation of any 肉親，親類d from either of her two 患者s, she 解決するd upon an 成果／努力 to surprise one from him.

She went about it in this way. 公式文書，認めるing his custom of making a 完全にする 一連の会議、交渉／完成する of the clocks each night after dinner, she took advantage of Mrs. Postlethwaite's inclination to sleep at this hour, to follow him from clock to clock in the hope of overhearing some 部分 of the monologue with which he bent his 長，率いる to the swinging pendulum, or put his ear to the hidden 作品. Soft-footed and 控えめの, she tripped along at his 支援する, and at each pause he made, paused herself and turned her ear his way. The extreme 不明瞭 of the halls, which were more sombre by night than by day, favoured this 試みる／企てる, and she was able, after a 失敗 or two, to catch the No! no! no! no! which fell from his lips in seeming repetition of what he heard the most of them say.

The satisfaction in his トン 証明するd that the 否定 to which he listened, chimed in with his hopes and gave 緩和する to his mind. But he looked his oldest when, after pausing at another of the many time-pieces, he echoed in answer to its special 差し控える, Yes! yes! yes! yes! and fled the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す with shaking 団体／死体 and a distracted 空気／公表する.

The same 恐れる and the same 縮むing were observable in him as he returned from listening to the least 目だつ one, standing in a short 回廊（地帯）, where Violet could not follow him. But when, after a hesitation which enabled her to slip behind the curtain hiding the 製図／抽選-room door, he approached and laid his ear against the 広大な／多数の／重要な one standing, as if on guard, at the foot of the stairs, she saw by the 新たにするd vigour he 陳列する，発揮するd that there was 慰安 for him in its message, even before she caught the whisper with which he left it and proceeded to 開始する the stairs:

"It says No! It always says No! I will 注意する it as the 発言する／表明する of Heaven."

But one 結論 could be the result of such an 実験 to a mind like Violet's. This partly touched old man not only held the 重要な to the secret of this house, but was in a mood to divulge it if once he could be induced to hear 命令（する） instead of dissuasion in the tick of this one large clock. But how could he be induced? Violet returned to Mrs. Postlethwaite's 病人の枕元 in a mood of extreme thoughtfulness.

Another day passed, and she had not yet seen 行方不明になる Postlethwaite. She was hoping each hour to be sent on some errand to that young lady's room, but no such 適切な時期 was 認めるd her. Once she 投機・賭けるd to ask the doctor, whose visits were now very たびたび（訪れる）, what he thought of the young lady's 条件. But as this question was やむを得ず put in Mrs. Postlethwaite's presence, the answer was 自然に guarded, and かもしれない not altogether frank.

"Our young lady is 女性," he 定評のある. "Much 女性," he 追加するd with 示すd 強調 and his most professional 空気／公表する, "or she would be here instead of in her own room. It grieves her not to be able to wait upon her generous benefactress."

The word fell ひどく. Had it been used as a 実験（する）? Violet gave him a look, though she had much rather have turned her 差別するing 注目する，もくろむ upon the 直面する 星／主役にするing up at them from the pillow. Had the alarm 表明するd by others communicated itself at last to the 内科医? Was the charm which had held him subservient to the mother, 解散させるing under the pitiable 明言する／公表する of the child, and was he trying to 援助（する） the little 探偵，刑事-nurse in her 成果／努力 to sound the mystery of her 条件?

His look 表明するd benevolence, but he took care not to 会合，会う the gaze of the woman he had just 称讃するd, かもしれない because that gaze was 直す／買収する，八百長をするd upon him in a way to 税金 his moral courage. The silence which 続いて起こるd was broken by Mrs. Postlethwaite:

"She will live—this poor Helena—how long?" she asked, with no break in her 発言する／表明する's wonted music.

The doctor hesitated, then with a candour hardly to be 推定する／予想するd from him, answered:

"I do not understand 行方不明になる Postlethwaite's 事例／患者. I should like, with your 許可, to 協議する some New York 内科医."

"Indeed!"

A 選び出す／独身 word, but as it left this woman's thin lips Violet recoiled, and, perhaps, the doctor did. 激怒（する） can speak in one word 同様に as in a dozen, and the 激怒（する） which spoke in this one was of no ありふれた order, though it was quickly 抑えるd, as was all other show of feeling when she 追加するd, with a touch of her old charm:

"Of course you will do what you think best, as you know I never 干渉する with a doctor's 決定／判定勝ち（する）s. But" and here her natural ascendancy of トン and manner returned in all its potency, "it would kill me to know that a stranger was approaching Helena's 病人の枕元. It would kill her. She's too 極度の慎重さを要する to 生き残る such a shock."

Violet 解任するd the words worked with so much care by this young girl on a minute piece of linen, I do not want to die, and watched the doctor's 直面する for some 調印する of 決意／決議. But 当惑 was all she saw there, and all she heard him say was the 従来の reply:

"I am doing all I can for her. We will wait another day and 公式文書，認める the 影響 of my 最新の prescription."

Another day!

The deathly 静める which overspread Mrs. Postlethwaite's features as this word left the 内科医's lips 警告するd Violet not to let another day go by without some 活動／戦闘. But she made no 発言／述べる, and, indeed, betrayed but little 利益／興味 in anything beyond her own 患者's 条件. That seemed to 占領する her wholly. With consummate art she gave the 外見 of 存在 under Mrs. Postlethwaite's 完全にする thrall, and watched with fascinated 注目する，もくろむs every movement of the one unstricken finger which could do so much.

This little 探偵，刑事 of ours could be an excellent actor when she chose.

III

To make the old man speak! To 軍隊 this 良心-stricken but 反抗的な soul to 明らかにする／漏らす what the clock forbade! How could it be done?

This continued to be Violet's 広大な／多数の／重要な problem. She pondered it so 深く，強烈に during all the 残りの人，物 of the day that a little pucker settled on her brow, which someone (I will not について言及する who) would have been 苦痛d to see. Mrs. Postlethwaite, if she noticed it at all, probably ascribed it to her 苦悩s as nurse, for never had Violet been more assiduous in her attentions. But Mrs. Postlethwaite was no longer the woman she had been, and かもしれない never 公式文書，認めるd it at all.

At five o'clock Violet suddenly left the room. Slipping 負かす／撃墜する into the lower hall, she went the 一連の会議、交渉／完成する of the clocks herself, listening to every one. There was no perceptible difference in their tick. 満足させるd of this and that it was 簡単に the old man's imagination which had 供給（する）d them each with separate speech, she paused before the 抱擁する one at the foot of the stairs,—the one whose dictate he had 約束d himself to follow,—and with an 注目する，もくろむ upon its 幅の広い, 星／主役にするing dial, muttered wistfully:

"Oh! for an idea! For an idea!"

Did this cumbrous 遺物 of old-time precision turn 反逆者 at this ingenuous 嘆願? The dial continued to 星／主役にする, the 作品 to sing, but Violet's 直面する suddenly lost its perplexity. With a 用心深い look about her and a listening ear turned に向かって the stair 最高の，を越す, she stretched out her 手渡す and pulled open the door guarding the pendulum, and peered in at the 作品, smiling slyly to herself as she 押し進めるd it 支援する into place and 退却／保養地d upstairs to the sick room.

When the doctor （機の）カム that night she had a 静かな word with him outside Mrs. Postlethwaite's door. Was that why he was on 手渡す when old Mr. Dunbar stole from his room to make his nightly 回路・連盟 of the halls below? Something やめる beyond the ordinary was in the good 内科医's mind, for the look he cast at the old man was やめる unlike any he had ever bestowed upon him before, and when he spoke it was to say with 示すd 緊急:

"Our beautiful young lady will not live a week unless I get at the seat of her malady. Pray that I may be enabled to do so, Mr. Dunbar."

A blow to the 老年の man's heart which called 前へ／外へ a feeble "Yes, yes," followed by a wild 星／主役にする which imprinted itself upon the doctor's memory as the look of one hopelessly old, who hears for the first time a 際立った call from the 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な which has long been を待つing him!

A 独房監禁 lamp stood in the lower hall. As the old man 選ぶd his slow way 負かす／撃墜する, its small, hesitating 炎上 ゆらめくd up as in a sudden gust, then sank 負かす／撃墜する flickering and faint as if it, too, had heard a call which 召喚するd it to 絶滅.

No other 調印する of life was 明白な anywhere. Sunk in twilight 影をつくる／尾行するs, the 回廊（地帯）s 支店d away on either 味方する to no place in particular and serving, to all 外見 (as many must have thought in days gone by), as a mere hiding-place for clocks.

To listen to their 部隊d hum, the old man paused, looking at first a little distraught, but settling at last into his usual self as he started 今後 upon his course. Did some whisper, hitherto unheard, 警告する him that it was the last time he would tread that 疲れた／うんざりした 一連の会議、交渉／完成する? Who can tell? He was trembling very much when with his 仕事 nearly 完全にするd, he stepped out again into the main hall and crept rather than walked 支援する to the one 広大な／多数の／重要な clock to whose dictum he made it a practice to listen last.

Chattering the accustomed words, "They say Yes! They are all 説 Yes! now; but this one will say No!" he bent his stiff old 支援する and laid his ear to the unresponsive 支持を得ようと努めるd. But the time for no had passed. It was Yes! yes! yes! yes! now, and as his 緊張するing ears took in the word, he appeared to 縮む where he stood and after a moment of anguished silence, broke 前へ／外へ into a low wail, まっただ中に whose lamentations one could hear:

"The time has come! Even the clock she loves best 企て，努力，提案s me speak. Oh! Arabella, Arabella!"

In his despair he had not noticed that the pendulum hung motionless, or that the 手渡すs stood at 残り／休憩（する） on the dial. If he had, he might have waited long enough to have seen the careful 開始 of the 広大な／多数の／重要な clock's tall door and the stepping 前へ／外へ of the little lady who had played so deftly upon his superstition.

He was wandering the 回廊（地帯）s like a helpless child, when a gentle 手渡す fell on his arm and a soft 発言する／表明する whispered in his ear:

"You have a story to tell. Will you tell it to me? It may save 行方不明になる Postlethwaite's life."

Did he understand? Would he 答える／応じる if he did; or would the shock of her 控訴，上告 回復する him to a sense of the danger …に出席するing disloyalty? For a moment she 疑問d the 知恵 of this startling 手段, then she saw that he had passed the point of surprise and that, stranger as she was, she had but to lead the way for him to follow, tell his story, and die.

There was no light in the 製図／抽選-room when they entered. But old Mr. Dunbar did not seem to mind that. Indeed, he seemed to have lost all consciousness of 現在の surroundings; he was even oblivious of her. This became やめる evident when the lamp, in ゆらめくing up again in the hall, gave a momentary glimpse, of his crouching, half-ひさまづくing 人物／姿／数字. In the pleading gesture of his trembling, outreaching 武器, Violet beheld an 控訴，上告, not to herself, but to some phantom of his imagination; and when he spoke, as he presently did, it was with the freedom of one to whom speech is life's last boon, and the ear of the listener やめる forgotten in the passion of 自白 long 抑えるd.

"She has never loved me," he began, "but I have always loved her. For me no other woman has ever 存在するd, though I was sixty-five years of age when I first saw her, and had long given up the idea that there lived a woman who could sway me from my even life and 直す／買収する，八百長をするd lines of 義務. Sixty-five! and she a youthful bride! Was there ever such folly! Happily I realized it from the first, and piled ashes on my hidden 炎上. Perhaps that is why I adore her to this day and only give her over to reprobation because 運命／宿命 is stronger than my age—stronger even than my love.

"She is not a good woman, but I might have been a good man if I had never known the sin which drew a line of 孤立／分離 about her, and within which I, and only I, have stood with her in silent companionship. What was this sin, and in what did it have its beginning? I think its beginning was in the passion she had for her husband. It was not the every-day passion of her sex in this land of equable affections, but one of foreign fierceness, jealousy, and insatiable 需要・要求する. Yet he was a very ordinary man. I was once his 教える and I know. She （機の）カム to know it too, when—but I am 急ぐing on too 急速な／放蕩な, I have much to tell before I reach that point.

"From the first, I was in their 信用／信任. Not that either he or she put me there, but that I lived with them and was always around, and could not help seeing and 審理，公聴会 what went on between them. Why he continued to want me in the house and at his （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, when I could no longer be of service to him, I have never known. かもしれない habit explains all. He was accustomed to my presence and so was she; so accustomed they hardly noticed it, as happened one night, when after a little 試みる／企てる at conversation, he threw 負かす／撃墜する the 調書をとる／予約する he had caught up and, 演説（する）／住所ing her by 指名する, said without a ちらりと見ること my way, and やめる as if he were alone with her:

"'Arabella, there is something I せねばならない tell you. I have tried to find the courage to do so many times before now but have always failed. Tonight I must.' And then he made his 広大な／多数の／重要な 公表，暴露,—how, unknown to, his friends and the world, he was a widower when he married her, and the father of a living child.

"With some women this might have passed with a 手段 of 悔いる, and some possible contempt for his silence, but not so with her. She rose to her feet—I can see her yet—and for a moment stood 直面するing him in the still, overpowering manner of one who feels the icy pang of hate enter where love has been. Never was moment more 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金d. I could not breathe while it lasted; and when at last she spoke, it was with an impetuosity of concentrated passion, hardly いっそう少なく dreadful than her silence had been.

" 'You a father! A father already!' she cried, all her sweetness swallowed up in ungovernable wrath. 'You whom I 推定する／予想するd to make so happy with a child? I 悪口を言う／悪態 you and your brat. I—'

"He strove to placate her, to explain. But 激怒（する） has no ears, and before I realized my own position, the scene became 率直に tempestuous. That her child should be second to another woman's seemed to awaken demon instincts within her. When he 投機・賭けるd to hint that his little girl needed a mother's care, her irony bit like corroding 酸性の. He became speechless before it and had not a 抗議する to raise when she 宣言するd that the secret he had kept so long and so 首尾よく he must continue to keep to his dying day. That the child he had failed to own in his first wife's lifetime should remain disowned in hers, and if possible be forgotten. She should never give the girl a thought nor 認める her in any way.

"She was Fury 具体的に表現するd; but the fury was of that grand order which allures rather than repels. As I felt myself succumbing to its fascination and beheld how he was 弱めるing under it even more perceptibly than myself, I started from my 議長，司会を務める, and sought to glide away before I should hear him utter a 致命的な acquiescence.

"But the movement I made unfortunately drew their attention to me, and after an instant of silent contemplation of my distracted countenance, Frank said, as though he were the 年上の by the forty years which separated us:

"'You have listened to Mrs. Postlethwaite's wishes. You will 尊敬（する）・点 them of course.'"

That was all. He knew and she knew that I was to be 信用d; but neither of them has ever known why.

A month later her child （機の）カム, and was welcomed as though it were the first to 耐える his 指名する. It was a boy, and their satisfaction was so 広大な／多数の／重要な that I looked to see their old affection 生き返らせる. But it had been cleft at the root, and nothing could 回復する it to life. They loved the child; I have never seen 証拠 of greater parental passion than they both 陳列する，発揮するd, but there their feelings stopped. に向かって each other they were 冷淡な. They did not even 部隊 in worship of their treasure. They gloated over him and planned for him, but always apart. He was a child in a thousand, and as he developed, the mother 特に, nursed all her energies for the 目的 of 確実にするing for him a 未来 相応した with his talents. Never a very conscientious woman, and alive to the advantages of wealth as 論証するd by the 力／強力にする （権力などを）行使するd by her rich brother-in-法律, she associated all the boy's prospects with money, 広大な／多数の／重要な money, such money as Andrew had 蓄積するd, and now had at his 処分 for his natural 相続人s.

"Hence （機の）カム her 広大な／多数の／重要な 誘惑,—a 誘惑 to which she 産する／生じるd, to the 継続している trouble of us all. Of this I must now make 自白 though it kills me to do so, and will soon kill her. The 行為s of the past do not remain buried, however 深い we dig their 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大なs, but rise in an awful resurrection when we are old—old—"

Silence. Then a tremulous 再開 of his painful speech.

Violet held her breath to listen. かもしれない the doctor, hidden in the darkest corner of the room, did so also.

"I never knew how she became 熟知させるd with the 条件 of her brother-in-法律's will. He certainly never confided them to her, and as certainly the lawyer who drew up the 文書 never did. But that she was 井戸／弁護士席 aware of its tenor is as 肯定的な a fact as that I am the most wretched man alive tonight. さもなければ, why the darksome 行為 into which she was betrayed when both the brothers lay dying の中で strangers, of a dreadful 事故?"

"I was 証言，証人／目撃する to that 行為. I had …を伴ってd her on her hurried ride and was at her 味方する when she entered the inn where the two Postlethwaites lay. I was always at her 味方する in 広大な／多数の／重要な joy or in 広大な／多数の／重要な trouble, though she professed no affection for me and gave me but scanty thanks."

"During our ride she had been silent and I had not 乱すd that silence. I had much to think of. Should we find him living, or should we find him dead? If dead, would it 切断する the relations between us two? Would I ever ride with her again?"

"When I was not dwelling on this 主題, I was thinking of the parting look she gave her boy; a look which had some strange 約束 in it. What had that look meant and why did my flesh creep and my mind hover between dread and a fearsome curiosity when I 解任するd it? 式のs! There was 推論する／理由 for all these sensations as I was soon to learn.

"We 設立する the inn seething with terror and the facts worse than had been 代表するd in the 電報電信. Her husband was dying. She had come just in time to 証言，証人／目撃する the end. This they told her before she had taken off her 隠す. If they had waited—if I had been given a 十分な glimpse of her 直面する—But it was hidden, and I could only 裁判官 of the nature of her emotions by the 厳しい way in which she held herself.

"'Take me to him,' was the 静かな 命令（する）, with which she met this 公表，暴露. Then, before any of them could move:

"'And his brother, Mr. Andrew Postlethwaite? Is he fatally 負傷させるd too?'

"The reply was 明白な. The doctors were uncertain which of the two would pass away first.

"You must remember that at this time I was ignorant of the rich man's will, and その結果 of how the 運命／宿命 of a poor child of whom I had heard only one について言及する, hung in the balance at that awful moment. But in the breathlessness which 掴むd Mrs. Postlethwaite at this 宣告，判決 of 二塁打 death, I realized from my knowledge of her that something more than grief was at prey upon her impenetrable heart, and shuddered to the 核心 of my 存在 when she repeated in that 発言する／表明する which was so terrible because so expressionless:

"'Take me to them.'"

They were lying in one room, her husband nearest the door, the other in a small alcove some ten feet away. Both were unconscious; both were surrounded by groups of 脅すd attendants who fell 支援する as she approached. A doctor stood at the bed-長，率いる of her husband, but as her 注目する，もくろむ met his he stepped aside with a shake of the 長，率いる and left the place empty for her.

"The 活動／戦闘 was 重要な. I saw that she understood what it meant, and with constricted heart watched her as she bent over the dying man and gazed into his wide-open 注目する，もくろむs, already sightless and 星／主役にするing. 計算／見積り was in her look and 計算／見積り only; and 計算／見積り, or something 平等に unintelligible, sent her next ちらりと見ること in the direction of his brother. What was in her mind? I could understand her 無関心／冷淡 to Frank even at the 危機 of his 運命／宿命, but not the 利益／興味 she showed in Andrew. It was an 吸収するing one, altering her whole 表現. I no longer knew her for my dear young madam, and the jealousy I had never felt に向かって Frank rose to frantic 憤慨 in my breast as I beheld what very likely might be a tardy 承認 of the other's 井戸／弁護士席-known passion, 軍隊d into 公表，暴露 by the exigencies of the moment.

"Alarmed by the strength of my feelings, and 恐れるing an equal 公表，暴露 on my own part, I sought for a 避難 from all 注目する，もくろむs and 設立する it in a little balcony 開始 out at my 権利. On to this balcony I stepped and 設立する myself 直面する to 直面する with a 星／主役にする-lit heaven. Had I only been content with my 孤立／分離 and the splendour of the spectacle spread out before me! But no, I must look 支援する upon that bed and the 独房監禁 woman standing beside it! I must watch the settling of her 団体／死体 into rigidity as a 発言する／表明する rose from beside the other Postlethwaite 説, 'It is a 事柄 of minutes now,' and then—and then—the slow creeping of her 手渡す to her husband's mouth, the outspreading of her palm across the livid lips—its 安定した 粘着するing there, smothering the feeble gasps of one already moribund, till the quivering form grew still, and Frank Postlethwaite lay dead before my 注目する，もくろむs!

"I saw, and made no 激しい抗議, but she did, bringing the doctor 支援する to her 味方する with the startled exclamation:

"'Dead? I thought he had an hour's life left in him, and he has passed before his brother.'

"I thought it hate—the murderous impulse of a woman who sees her enemy at her mercy and can no longer 抑制する the passion of her long-心にいだくd antagonism; and while something within me rebelled at the 行為／法令／行動する, I could not betray her, though silence made a 殺害者 of me too. I could not. Her （一定の）期間 was upon me as in another instant it was upon everyone else in the room. No 疑惑 of one so self-repressed in her sadness 乱すd the 全世界の／万国共通の sympathy; and encouraged by this blindness of the （人が）群がる, I 公約するd within myself never to 明らかにする／漏らす her secret. The man was dead, or as good as dead, when she touched him; and now that her hate was expended she would grow gentle and good.

"But I knew the worthlessness of this hope 同様に as my misconception of her 動機, when Frank's child by another wife returned to my memory, and Bella's sin stood exposed."

"But only to myself. I alone knew that the fortune now wholly hers, and in consequence her boy's, had been won by a 罪，犯罪. That if her 手渡す had fallen in 慰安 on her husband's forehead instead of in 圧力 on his mouth, he would have 生き延びるd his brother long enough to have become owner of his millions; in which 事例／患者 a rightful 部分 would have been insured to his daughter, now left a penniless waif. The thought made my hair rise, as the 訴訟／進行s over, I 直面するd her and made my first and last 成果／努力 to rid my 良心 of its new and intolerable 重荷（を負わせる）.

"But the woman I had known and loved was no longer before me. The 栄冠を与える had touched her brows, and her charm which had been おもに 性の up to this hour had 合併するd into an 知識人 軍隊, with which few men's mentality could 対処する. 地雷 産する／生じるd at once to it. From the first instant, I knew that a slavery of spirit, 同様に as of heart, was henceforth to be 地雷.

"She did not wait for me to speak; she had assumed the 独裁者's 態度 at once.

"'I know of what you are thinking,'" said she, "'and it is a 支配する you may 解任する at once from your mind. Mr. Postlethwaite's child by his first wife is coming to live with us. I have 表明するd my wishes in this regard to my lawyer, and there is nothing left to be said. You, with your の近くに mouth and dependable nature, are to remain here as before, and 占領する the same position に向かって my boy that you did に向かって his father. We shall move soon into a larger house, and the nature of our 義務s will be changed and their 範囲 大いに 増加するd; but I know that you can be 信用d to 大きくする with them and 会合，会う every 必要物／必要条件 I shall see fit to make. Do not try to 表明する your thanks. I see them in your 直面する.'

"Did she, or just the last feeble struggle my 良心 was making to break the 社債s in which she held me, and 勝利，勝つ 支援する my own 尊敬（する）・点? I shall never know, for she left me on 完成 of this speech, not to 再開する the 支配する, then or ever.

"But though I succumbed outwardly to her 需要・要求するs, I had not passed the point where inner 衝突 ends and peace begins. Her 承認 of Helena and her 歓迎会 into the family 静めるd me for a while, and gave me hope that all would yet be 井戸／弁護士席. But I had never sounded the 十分な bitterness of madam's morbid heart, 井戸／弁護士席 as I thought I knew it. The 憎悪 she had felt from the first for her husband's child ripened into frenzied dislike when she 設立する her a living image of the mother whose picture she had come across の中で Frank's personal 影響s. To 勝利，勝つ a 涙／ほころび from those meek 注目する，もくろむs instead of a smile to the 極度の慎重さを要する lips was her daily play. She seemed to exult in the joy of impressing upon the girl by how little she had 行方不明になるd a 広大な／多数の／重要な fortune, and I have often thought, much as I tried to keep my mind 解放する／自由な from all extravagant and unnecessary fancies, that half of the money she spent in beautifying this house and 持続するing art 産業s and even 広大な／多数の／重要な charitable 会・原則s was spent with the base 目的 of 論証するing to this child the 力／強力にする of 巨大な wealth, and in what ways she might 推定する／予想する to see her little brother expend the millions in which she had been 否定するd all 株.

"I was so sure of this that one night while I was winding up the clocks with which Mrs. Postlethwaite in her fondness for old timepieces has filled the house, I stopped to look at the little 人物／姿／数字 toiling so wearily upstairs, to bed, without a mother's kiss. There was an 控訴，上告 in the small wistful 直面する which smote my hard old heart, and かもしれない a 涙／ほころび 井戸／弁護士席d up in my own 注目する，もくろむ when I turned 支援する to my 義務."

"Was that why I felt the 手渡す of Providence upon me, when in my 停止（させる） before the one clock to which any superstitious 利益／興味 was 大（公）使館員d—the 広大な／多数の／重要な one at the foot of the stairs—I saw that it had stopped and at the one minute of all minutes in our wretched lives: Four minutes past two? The hour, the minute in which Frank Postlethwaite had gasped his last under the 圧力 of his wife's 手渡す! I knew it—the exact minute I mean—because Providence meant that I should know it. There had been a clock on the mantelpiece of the hotel room where he and his brother had died and I had seen her ちらりと見ること steal に向かって it at the instant she withdrew her palm from her husband's lips. The 星／主役にする of that dial and the position of its 手渡すs had lived still in my mind as I believed it did in hers.

"Four minutes past two! How （機の）カム our old timepiece here to stop at that exact moment on a day when 義務 was making its last 需要・要求する upon me to remember Frank's unhappy child? There was no one to answer; but as I looked and looked, I felt the impulse of the moment 強化する into 目的 to leave those 手渡すs undisturbed in their silent 告訴，告発. She might see, and, moved by the coincidence, tremble at her 治療 of Helena.

"But if this happened—if she saw and trembled—she gave no 調印する. The 作品 were started up by some other 手渡す, and the 出来事/事件 passed. But it left me with an idea. That clock soon had a way of stopping and always at that one instant of time. She was 軍隊d at length to notice it, and I remember, an occasion when she stood 在庫／株-still with her 注目する，もくろむs on those 手渡すs, and failed to find the banister with her 手渡す, though she groped for it in her frantic need for support.

"But no 命令（する） （機の）カム from her to 除去する the worn-out piece, and soon its tricks, and every lesser thing, were forgotten in the 鎮圧するing calamity which befell us in the sickness and death of little Richard.

"Oh, those days and nights! And oh, the 直面する of the mother when the doctors told her that the 事例／患者 was hopeless! I asked myself then, and I have asked myself a hundred times since, which of all the emotions I saw pictured there bit the deepest, and made the most 継続している impression on her 有罪の heart? Was it 悔恨? If so, she showed no change in her 態度 に向かって Helena, unless it was by an 追加するd bitterness. The 甘い looks and gentle ways of Frank's young daughter could not 勝利，勝つ against a hate sharpened by 失望. Useless for me to hope for it. 解放（する） from the 悔恨 of years was not to come in that way. As I realized this, I grew desperate and 訴える手段／行楽地d again to the old trick of stopping the clock at the 致命的な hour. This time her 有罪の heart 答える／応じるd. She 定評のある the を刺す and let all her 悲惨s appear. But how? In a way to wring my heart almost to madness, and not 利益 the child at all. She had her first 一打／打撃 that night. I had made her a helpless 無効の.

"That was eight years ago, and since then what? Stagnation. She lived with her memories, and I with 地雷. Helena only had a 権利 to hope, and hope perhaps she did, till—Is that the 広大な／多数の／重要な clock talking? Listen! They all talk, but I 注意する only the one. What does it say? Tell! tell! tell! Does it think I will be silent now when I come to my own 犯罪? That I will 捜し出す to hide my 証拠不十分 when I could not hide her sin?"

"Explain!" It was Violet speaking, and her トン was 厳しい in its 命令（する）. "Of what 犯罪 do you speak? Not of 犯罪 に向かって Helena; you pitied her too much—"

"But I pitied my dear madam more. It was that which 影響する／感情d me and drew me into 罪，犯罪 against my will. Besides, I did not know—not at first—what was in the little bowl of curds and cream I carried to the girl each day. She had eaten them in her step-mother's room, and under her step-mother's 注目する，もくろむ as long as she had strength to pass from room to room, and how was I to guess that it was not wholesome? Because she failed in health from day to day? Was not my dear madam failing in health also; and was there 毒（薬） in her cup? Innocent at that time, why am I not innocent now? Because—Oh, I will tell it all; as though at the 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業 of God. I will tell all the secrets of that day.

"She was sitting with her 手渡す trembling on the tray from which I had just 解除するd the bowl she had 企て，努力，提案 me carry to Helena. I had seen her so a hundred times before, but not with just that look in her 注目する，もくろむs, or just that 空気／公表する of desolation in her stony 人物／姿／数字. Something made me speak; something made me ask if she were not やめる so 井戸／弁護士席 as usual, and something made her reply with the dreadful truth that the doctor had given her just two months more to live. My fright and mad anguish stupefied me; for I was not 用意が出来ている for this, no, not at all;—and unconsciously I 星／主役にするd 負かす／撃墜する at the bowl I held, unable to breathe or move or even to 会合，会う her look."

As usual she misinterpreted my emotion.

"'Why do you stand like that?' I heard her say in a トン of 広大な／多数の／重要な irritation. 'And why do you 星／主役にする into that bowl? Do you think I mean to leave that child to walk these halls after I am carried out of them forever? Do you 手段 my hate by such a petty yard-stick as that? I tell you that I would rot above ground rather than enter it before she did?'

"I had believed I knew this woman; but what soul ever knows another's? What soul ever knows itself?

"'Bella!' I cried; the first time I had ever 推定するd to 演説（する）／住所 her so intimately. 'Would you 毒（薬） the girl?' And from sheer 証拠不十分 my fingers lost their clutch, and the bowl fell to the 床に打ち倒す, breaking into a dozen pieces.

"For a minute she 星／主役にするd 負かす／撃墜する at these from over her tray, and then she 発言／述べるd very low and very 静かに:

"'Another bowl, Humphrey, and fresh curds from the kitchen. I will do the seasoning. The doses are too small to be skipped. You won't?'—I had shaken my 長，率いる—'But you will! It will not be the first time you have gone 負かす／撃墜する the hall with this mixture.'

"'But that was before I knew—' I began.

"'And now that you do, you will go just the same.' Then as I stood hesitating, a thousand memories 圧倒的な me in an instant, she 追加するd in a 発言する／表明する to 涙／ほころび the heart, 'Do not make me hate the only 存在 left in this world who understands and loves me.'

"She was a helpless 無効の, and I a broken man, but when that word 'love' fell from her lips, I felt the 血 start 燃やすing in my veins, and all the crust of habit and years of self-支配（する）／統制する 緩和する about my heart, and make me young again. What if her thoughts were dark and her wishes murderous! She was born to 支配する and sway men to her will even to their own undoing."

"'I wish I might kiss your 手渡す,' was what I murmured, gazing at her white fingers groping over her tray.

"'You may,' she answered, and hell became heaven to me for a 簡潔な／要約する instant. Then I 解除するd myself and went obediently about my 仕事.

"But puppet though I was, I was not utterly without sympathy. When I entered Helena's room and saw how her startled 注目する，もくろむs fell shrinkingly on the bowl I 始める，決める 負かす／撃墜する before her, my 良心 leaped to life and I could not help 説:

"'Don't you like the curds, Helena? Your brother used to love them very much.'

"'His were—'

"'What, Helena?'

"'What these are not,' she murmured.

"I 星／主役にするd at her, terror-stricken. So she knew, and yet did not 掴む the bowl and empty it out of the window! Instead, her 手渡す moved slowly に向かって it and drew it into place before her.

"'Yet I must eat,' she said, 解除するing her 注目する，もくろむs to 地雷 in a sort of 患者 despair, which yet was without 告訴，告発.

"But my 手渡す had instinctively gone to hers and しっかり掴むd it.

"'Why must you eat it?' I asked. 'If—if you do not find it wholesome, why do you touch it?'

"'Because my step-mother 推定する／予想するs me to,' she cried, 'and I have no other will than hers. When I was a little, little child, my father made me 約束 that if I ever （機の）カム to live with her I would obey her simplest wish. And I always have. I will not disappoint the 信用 he put in me.'

"'Even if you die of it?'

"I do not know whether I whispered these words or only thought them. She answered as though I had spoken.

"'I am not afraid to die. I am more afraid to live. She may ask me some day to do something I feel to be wrong.'

"When I fled 負かす／撃墜する the hall that night, I heard one of the small clocks speak to me. Tell! it cried, tell! tell! tell! tell! I 急ぐd away from it with beaded forehead and rising hair.

"Then another's 公式文書，認める 麻薬を吸うd up. No it droned. No! no! no! no! I stopped and took heart. 不名誉 the woman I loved, on the brink of the 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な? I—, who asked no other boon from heaven than to see her happy, gracious, and good? Impossible. I would obey the 広大な／多数の／重要な clock's 発言する／表明する; the others were mere chatterboxes.

"But it has at last changed its tune, for some 推論する／理由, やめる changed its tune. Now, it is Yes! Yes! instead of No! and in obeying it I save Helena. But what of Bella? and O God, what of myself?"

A sigh, a groan, then a long and 激しい silence, into which there finally broke the pealing of the さまざまな clocks striking the hour. When all were still again and Violet had drawn aside the portiere, it was to see the old man on his 膝s, and between her and the thin streak of light entering from the hall, the 人物／姿／数字 of the doctor 急いでing to Helena's 病人の枕元.

When with 誘導s needless to 指名する, they finally 説得するd the young girl to leave her unholy habitation, it was in the 武器 which had upheld her once before, and to a life which 約束d to 補償する her for her twenty years of loneliness and unsatisfied longing.

But a 黒人／ボイコット 影をつくる／尾行する yet remained which she must cross before reaching the 日光!

It lay at her step-mother's door.

In the 計画（する）s made for Helena's 解放（する）, Mrs. Postlethwaite's 同意 had not been 得るd nor was she supposed to be 熟知させるd with the doctor's 意向s に向かって the child whose death she was hourly を待つing.

It was therefore with an astonishment, 国境ing on awe, that on their way downstairs, they saw the door of her room open and herself standing alone and upright on the threshold—she who had not been seen to take a step in years. In the wonder of this 奇蹟 of suddenly 回復するd 力／強力にする, the little 行列 stopped,—the doctor with his 手渡す upon the rail, the lover with his 重荷（を負わせる） clasped yet more protectingly to his breast. That a little speech を待つd them could be seen from the 軍隊 and fury of the gaze which the indomitable woman bent upon the lax and half-unconscious 人物／姿／数字 she beheld thus 避難所d and 伝えるd. Having but one arrow left in her exhausted quiver, she 開始する，打ち上げるd it straight at the innocent breast which had never harboured against her a 反抗的な thought.

"Ingrate!" was the word she 投げつけるd in a 発言する／表明する from which all its seductive music had gone forever. "Where are you going? Are they carrying you alive to your 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大な?"

A moan from Helena's pale lips, then silence. She had fainted at that barbed attack. But there was one there who dared to answer for her and he spoke relentlessly. It was the man who loved her.

"No, madam. We are carrying her to safety. You must know what I mean by that. Let her go 静かに and you may die in peace. さもなければ—"

She interrupted him with a loud call, startling into life the echoes of that haunted hall:

"Humphrey! Come to me, Humphrey!"

But no Humphrey appeared.

Another call, louder and more peremptory than before:

"Humphrey! I say, Humphrey!"

But the answer was the same—silence, and only silence. As the horror of this grew, the doctor spoke:

"Mr. Humphrey Dunbar's ears are の近くにd to all earthly 召喚するs. He died last night at the very hour he said he would—four minutes after two."

"Four minutes after two!" It （機の）カム from her lips in a whisper, but with a 発覚 of her broken heart and life. "Four minutes after two!" And 反抗的な to the last, her 長，率いる rose, and for an instant, for a mere breath of time, they saw her as she had looked in her prime, regal in form, 態度, and 表現; then the will which had 支えるd her through so much, 滞るd and succumbed, and with a final reiteration of the words "Four minutes after two!" she broke into a 動揺させるing laugh, and fell 支援する into the 武器 of her old nurse.

And below, one clock struck the hour and then another. But not the big one at the foot of the stairs. That still stood silent, with its 手渡すs pointing to the hour and minute of Frank Postlethwaite's 急いでd death.

End Of Problem VI

Problem VII
The Doctor, His Wife, And The Clock

Violet had gone to her room. She had a 仕事 before her. That afternoon, a packet had been left at the door, which, from a 確かな letter scribbled in one corner, she knew to be from her 雇用者. The contents of that packet must be read, and she had made herself comfortable with the 意向 of setting to work at once. But ten o'clock struck and then eleven before she could bring herself to give any attention to the manuscript を待つing her perusal. In her 現在の mood, a 静かな sitting by the 解雇する／砲火／射撃, with her 注目する，もくろむs upon the changeful 炎上, was より望ましい to the 熟考する／考慮する of any 事件／事情／状勢 her 雇用者 might send her. Yet, because she was conscious of the 義務 she thus 率直に neglected, she sat crouched over her desk with her 手渡す on the mysterious packet, the string of which, however, she made no 成果／努力 to 緩和する.

What was she thinking of?

We are not alone in our curiosity on this 支配する. Her brother Arthur, coming unperceived into the room, gives 記念品s of a 類似の 利益／興味. Never before had he seen her oblivious to an approaching step; and after a momentary contemplation of her 吸収するd 人物／姿／数字, so girlishly 甘い and yet so 深く，強烈に 意図, he 前進するs to her 味方する, and peering 真面目に into her 直面する, 観察するs with a 真面目さ やめる unusual to him:

"Puss, you are looking worried,—not like yourself at all. I've noticed it for some time. What's up. Getting tired of the 商売／仕事?"

"No—not altogether—that is, it's not that, if it's anything. I'm not sure that it's anything. I—"

She had turned 支援する to her desk and was 押し進めるing about the さまざまな articles with which it was plentifully bespread; but this did not hide the 紅潮／摘発する which had crept into her cheeks and even dyed the 雪の降る，雪の多い whiteness of her neck. Arthur's astonishment at this 証拠 of emotion was very 広大な／多数の／重要な; but he said nothing, only watched her still more closely, as with a light laugh she 回復するd her self-所有／入手, and with the practical 空気／公表する of a philosopher uttered this trite 発言／述べる:

"Everyone has his sober moments. I was only thinking—"

"Of some new 事例／患者?"

"Not 正確に／まさに." The words （機の）カム softly but with a touch of mingled humour and gravity which made Arthur 星／主役にする again.

"See here, Puss!" he cried. His トン had changed. "I've just come up from the den. Father and I have had a 列／漕ぐ／騒動—a beastly 列／漕ぐ／騒動."

"A 列／漕ぐ／騒動? You and father? Oh, Arthur, I don't like that. Don't quarrel with father. Don't, don't. Some day he and I may have a serious difference about what I am doing. Don't let him feel that he has lost us all."

"That's all 権利, Puss; but I've got to think of you a bit. I can't see you spoil all your good times with these police horrors and not do something to help. To-morrow I begin life as a salesman in Clarke & Stebbin's. The salary is not 広大な／多数の／重要な, but every little helps and I don't dislike the 商売／仕事. But father does. He had rather see me loafing about town setting the fashions for fellows as idle as myself than 国／地域 my 手渡すs with 扱うing 商品／売買する. That's why we quarreled. But don't worry. Your 指名する didn't come up, or—or—you know whose. He hasn't an idea of why I want to work—There, Violet there!"

Two soft 武器 were around his neck and Violet was letting her heart out in a succession of sisterly kisses.

"O, Arthur, you good, good boy! Together we'll soon （不足などを）補う the 量, and then—"

"Then what?"

A 甘い soft look robbed her 直面する of its piquancy, but gave it an 面 of indescribable beauty やめる new to Arthur's 注目する，もくろむs.

（電話線からの）盗聴 his lips with a thoughtful forefinger, he asked:

"Who was that sombre-looking chap I saw 屈服するing to you as we （機の）カム out of church last Sunday?"

She awoke from her dreamy 明言する／公表する with an astonishing quickness.

"He? Surely you remember him. Have you forgotten that evening in Massachusetts—the grotto—and—"

"Oh, it's Upjohn, is it? Yes, I remember him. He's fond of church, isn't he? That is, when he's in New York."

Her lips took a roguish curve then a very serious one; but she made no answer.

"I have noticed that he's always in his seat and always looking your way."

"That's very 半端物 of him," she 宣言するd, her dimples coming and going in a most bewildering fashion. "I can't imagine why he should do that."

"Nor I,—" retorted Arthur with a smile. "But he's human, I suppose. Only do be careful, Violet. A man so melancholy will need a 取引，協定 of 元気づける."

He was gone before he had fully finished this daring 発言／述べる, and Violet, left again with her thoughts, lost her glowing colour but not her 最大の関心事. The 手渡す which lay upon the packet already alluded to did not move for many minutes, and when she roused at last to the 需要・要求するs of her 雇用者, it was with a start and a 有罪の look at the small gold clock ticking out its inexorable 思い出の品.

"He will want an answer the first thing in the morning," she complained to herself. And 開始 the packet, she took out first a letter, and then a 集まり of typewritten manuscript.

She began with the letter which was as characteristic of the writer as all the others she had had from his 手渡す; as 証言，証人／目撃する:

You probably remember the Hasbrouck 殺人,—or, perhaps, you don't; it 存在 one of a time previous to your 利益／興味 in such 事柄s. But whether you remember it or not, I beg you to read the …を伴ってing 要約 with 予定 care and attention to 商売／仕事. When you have 井戸／弁護士席 mastered it with all its 詳細（に述べる）s, please communicate with me in any manner most convenient to yourself, for I shall have a word to say to you then, which you may be glad to hear, if as you have lately intimated you need to earn but one or two more 相当な rewards ーするために cry 停止（させる） to the 追跡 for which you have 証明するd yourself so 井戸／弁護士席 qualified.

The story, in deference to yourself as a young and much preoccupied woman, has been written in a way to 利益／興味. Though the work of an everyday police 探偵，刑事, you will find in it no 欠如（する） of mystery or romance; and if at the end you perceive that it runs, as such 事例／患者s frequently do, up against a perfectly blank 塀で囲む, you must remember that 開始s can be made in 塀で囲むs, and that the 緩和するing of one weak 石／投石する from its 任命するd place, いつかs leads to the downfall of all.

So much for the letter.

Laying it aside, with a shrug of her expressive shoulders, Violet took up the manuscript.

Let us take it up too. It runs thus:

On the 17th of July, 19—, a 悲劇 of no little 利益／興味 occurred in one of the 住居s of the Colonnade in Lafayette Place.

Mr. Hasbrouck, a 井戸／弁護士席 known and 高度に 尊敬（する）・点d 国民, was attacked in his room by an unknown 加害者, and 発射 dead before 援助 could reach him. His 殺害者 escaped, and the problem 申し込む／申し出d to the police was how to identify this person who, by some happy chance or by the 演習 of the most remarkable forethought, had left no traces behind him, or any 手がかり（を与える） by which he could be followed.

The 詳細（に述べる）s of the 調査 which ended so unsatisfactorily are here given by the man sent from （警察，軍隊などの）本部 at the first alarm.

When, some time after midnight on the date above について言及するd, I reached Lafayette Place, I 設立する the 封鎖する lighted from end to end. Groups of excited men and women peered from the open doorways, and mingled their 影をつくる／尾行するs with those of the 抱擁する 中心存在s which adorn the 前線 of this picturesque 封鎖する of dwellings.

The house in which the 罪，犯罪 had been committed was 近づく the centre of the 列／漕ぐ／騒動, and, long before I reached it, I had learned from more than one source that the alarm was first given to the street by a woman's shriek, and secondly by the shouts of an old man-servant who had appeared, in a half-dressed 条件, at the window of Mr. Hasbrouck's room, crying "殺人! 殺人!"

But when I had crossed the threshold, I was astonished at the paucity of facts to be gleaned from the inmates themselves. The old servant, who was the first to talk, had only this account of the 罪，犯罪 to give:

The family, which consisted of Mr. Hasbrouck, his wife, and three servants, had retired for the night at the usual hour and under the usual 後援. At eleven o'clock the lights were all 消滅させるd, and the whole 世帯 asleep, with the possible exception of Mr. Hasbrouck himself, who, 存在 a man of large 商売／仕事 責任／義務s, was frequently troubled with insomnia.

Suddenly Mrs. Hasbrouck woke with a start. Had she dreamed the words that were （犯罪の）一味ing in her ears, or had they been 現実に uttered in her 審理，公聴会? They were short, sharp words, 十分な of terror and menace, and she had nearly 満足させるd herself that she had imagined them, when there （機の）カム, from somewhere 近づく the door, a sound she neither understood nor could 解釈する／通訳する, but which filled her with inexplicable terror, and made her afraid to breathe, or even to stretch 前へ／外へ her 手渡す に向かって her husband, whom she supposed to be sleeping at her 味方する. At length another strange sound, which she was sure was not 予定 to her imagination, drove her to make an 試みる／企てる to rouse him, when she was horrified to find that she was alone in bed, and her husband nowhere within reach.

Filled now with something more than nervous 逮捕, she flung herself to the 床に打ち倒す, and tried to 侵入する with frenzied ちらりと見ることs, the surrounding 不明瞭. But the blinds and shutters both having been carefully の近くにd by Mr. Hasbrouck before retiring, she 設立する this impossible, and she was about to 沈む in terror to the 床に打ち倒す, when she heard a low gasp on the other 味方する of the room followed by a 抑えるd cry.

"God! what have I done!"

The 発言する／表明する was a strange one, but before the 恐れる 誘発するd by this fact could 最高潮に達する in a shriek of 狼狽, she caught the sound of 退却／保養地ing footsteps, and, 熱望して listening, she heard them descend the stairs and 出発／死 by the 前線 door.

Had she known what had occurred—had there been no 疑問 in her mind as to what lay in the 不明瞭 on the other 味方する of the room—it is likely that, at the noise 原因（となる）d by the の近くにing 前線 door, she would have made at once for the balcony that opened out from the window before which she was standing, and taken one look at the 飛行機で行くing 人物／姿／数字 below. But her 不確定 as to what lay hidden from her by the 不明瞭 chained her feet to the 床に打ち倒す, and there is no knowing when she would have moved, if a carriage had not at that moment passed 負かす／撃墜する Astor Place, bringing with it a sense of companionship which broke the （一定の）期間 持つ／拘留するing her, and gave her strength to light the gas which was in ready reach of her 手渡す.

As the sudden 炎 illuminated the room, 明らかにする／漏らすing in a burst the old familiar 塀で囲むs and 井戸／弁護士席-known pieces of furniture, she felt for a moment as if 解放（する）d from some 激しい nightmare and 回復するd to the ありふれた experiences of life. But in another instant her former dread returned, and she 設立する herself 地震ing at the prospect of passing around the foot of the bed into that part of the room which was as yet hidden from her 注目する，もくろむs.

But the desperation which comes with 広大な／多数の／重要な crises finally drove her from her 退却／保養地; and, creeping slowly 今後, she cast one ちらりと見ること at the 床に打ち倒す before her, when she 設立する her worst 恐れるs realized by the sight of the dead 団体／死体 of her husband lying 傾向がある before the open doorway, with a 弾丸-穴を開ける in his forehead.

Her first impulse was to shriek, but, by a powerful 演習 of will, she checked herself, and （犯罪の）一味ing frantically for the servants who slept on the 最高の，を越す 床に打ち倒す of the house, flew to the nearest window and endeavoured to open it. But the shutters had been bolted so securely by Mr. Hasbrouck, in his endeavour to shut out all light and sound, that by the time she had 後継するd in unfastening them, all trace of the 飛行機で行くing 殺害者 had 消えるd from the street.

Sick with grief and terror, she stepped 支援する into the room just as the three 脅すd servants descended the stairs. As they appeared in the open doorway, she pointed at her husband's inanimate form, and then, as if suddenly realizing in its 十分な 軍隊 the calamity which had befallen her, she threw up her 武器, and sank 今後 to the 床に打ち倒す in a dead faint.

The two women 急ぐd to her 援助, but the old butler, bounding over the bed, sprang to the window, and shrieked his alarm to the street.

In the 暫定的な that followed, Mrs. Hasbrouck was 生き返らせるd, and the master's 団体／死体 laid decently on the bed; but no 追跡 was made, nor any 調査s started likely to 補助装置 me in 設立するing the 身元 of the 加害者.

Indeed, everyone both in the house and out, seemed dazed by the 予期しない 大災害, and as no one had any 疑惑s to 申し込む／申し出 as to the probable 殺害者, I had a difficult 仕事 before me.

I began in the usual way, by 検査／視察するing the scene of the 殺人. I 設立する nothing in the room, or in the 条件 of the 団体／死体 itself, which 追加するd an iota to the knowledge already 得るd. That Mr. Hasbrouck had been in bed; that he had risen upon 審理，公聴会 a noise; and that he had been 発射 before reaching the door, were self-evident facts. But there was nothing to guide me その上の. The very 簡単 of the circumstances 原因（となる）d a dearth of 手がかり（を与える）s, which made the difficulty of 手続き as 広大な／多数の／重要な as any I had ever 遭遇（する）d.

My search through the hall and 負かす／撃墜する the stairs elicited nothing; and an 調査 of the bolts and 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業s by which the house was 安全な・保証するd, 保証するd me that the 暗殺者 had either entered by the 前線 door, or had already been secreted in the house when it was locked up for the night.

"I shall have to trouble Mrs. Hasbrouck for a short interview," I hereupon 発表するd to the trembling old servant, who had followed me like a dog about the house.

He made no demur, and in a few minutes I was 勧めるd into the presence of the newly made 未亡人, who sat やめる alone, in a large 議会 in the 後部. As I crossed the threshold she looked up, and I 遭遇（する）d a good, plain 直面する, without the 影をつくる／尾行する of guile in it.

"Madam," said I, "I have not come to 乱す you. I will ask two or three questions only, and then leave you to your grief. I am told that some words （機の）カム from the 暗殺者 before he 配達するd his 致命的な 発射. Did you hear these distinctly enough to tell me what they were?"

"I was sound asleep," said she, "and dreamt, as I thought, that a 猛烈な／残忍な, strange 発言する／表明する cried somewhere to some one: 'Ah! you did not 推定する／予想する me!' But I dare not say that these words were really uttered to my husband, for he was not the man to call 前へ／外へ hate, and only a man in the extremity of passion could 演説（する）／住所 such an exclamation in such a トン as （犯罪の）一味s in my memory in 関係 with the 致命的な 発射 which woke me."

"But that 発射 was not the work of a friend," I argued. "If, as these words seem to 証明する, the 暗殺者 had some other 動機 than plunder in his 強襲，強姦, then your husband had an enemy, though you never 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd it."

"Impossible!" was her 安定した reply, uttered in the most 納得させるing トン. "The man who 発射 him was a ありふれた 夜盗，押し込み強盗, and 脅すd at having been betrayed into 殺人, fled without looking for booty. I am sure I heard him cry out in terror and 悔恨: 'God! what have I done!'"

"Was that before you left the 味方する of the bed?"

"Yes; I did not move from my place till I heard the 前線 door の近くに. I was paralysed by 恐れる and dread."

"Are you in the habit of 信用ing to the 安全 of a latch-lock only in the fastening of your 前線 door at night? I am told that the big 重要な was not in the lock, and that the bolt at the 底（に届く） of the door was not drawn."

"The bolt at the 底（に届く） of the door is never drawn. Mr. Hasbrouck was so good a man that he never 不信d any one. That is why the big lock was not fastened. The 重要な, not working 井戸／弁護士席, he took it some days ago to the locksmith, and when the latter failed to return it, he laughed, and said he thought no one would ever think of 干渉 with his 前線 door."

"Is there more than one night-重要な to your house?" I now asked.

She shook her 長，率いる.

"And when did Mr. Hasbrouck last use his?"

"To-night, when he （機の）カム home from 祈り 会合," she answered, and burst into 涙／ほころびs.

Her grief was so real and her loss so 最近の that I hesitated to afflict her by その上の questions. So returning to the scene of the 悲劇, I stepped out upon the balcony which ran in 前線. Soft 発言する／表明するs 即時に struck my ears. The 隣人s on either 味方する were grouped in 前線 of their own windows, and were 交流ing the 発言／述べるs natural under the circumstances. I paused, as in 義務 bound, and listened. But I heard nothing 価値（がある） 記録，記録的な／記録するing, and would have 即時に reentered the house, if I had not been impressed by the 外見 of a very graceful woman who stood at my 権利. She was 粘着するing to her husband, who was gazing at one of the 中心存在s before him in a strange 直す／買収する，八百長をするd way which astonished me till he 試みる／企てるd to move, and then I saw that he was blind. I remembered that there lived in this 列／漕ぐ／騒動 a blind doctor, 平等に celebrated for his 技術 and for his uncommon personal attractions, and 大いに 利益／興味d not only by his affliction, but in the sympathy evinced by his young and affectionate wife, I stood still, till I heard her say in the soft and 控訴，上告ing トンs of love:

"Come in, Constant; you have 激しい 義務s for to-morrow, and you should get a few hours' 残り／休憩（する） if possible."

He （機の）カム from the 影をつくる／尾行する of the 中心存在, and for one minute I saw his 直面する with the lamplight 向こうずねing 十分な upon it. It was as 正規の／正選手 of feature as a sculptured Adonis, and it was as white.

"Sleep!" he repeated, in the 手段d トンs of 深い but 抑えるd feeling. "Sleep! with 殺人 on the other 味方する of the 塀で囲む!" And he stretched out his 武器 in a dazed way that insensibly accentuated the horror I myself felt of the 罪，犯罪 which had so lately taken place in the room behind me.

She, 公式文書，認めるing the movement, took one of the groping 手渡すs in her own and drew him gently に向かって her.

"This way," she 勧めるd; and, guiding him into the house, she の近くにd the window and drew 負かす／撃墜する the shades.

I have no excuse to 申し込む／申し出 for my curiosity, but the 利益／興味 excited in me by this 全く irrelevant episode was so 広大な／多数の／重要な that I did not leave the neighbourhood till I had learned something of this remarkable couple.

The story told me was very simple. Dr. Zabriskie had not been born blind, but had become so after a grievous illness which had stricken him 負かす／撃墜する soon after he received his diploma. Instead of succumbing to an affliction which would have daunted most men, he 表明するd his 意向 of practising his profession, and soon became so successful in it that he 設立する no difficulty in 設立するing himself in one of the best 支払う／賃金ing ４半期/4分の1s of the city. Indeed, his intuition seemed to have developed in a remarkable degree after the loss of his sight, and he seldom, if ever, made a mistake in diagnosis. Considering this fact, and the personal attractions which gave him distinction, it was no wonder that he soon became a popular 内科医 whose presence was a benefaction and whose word 法律.

He had been engaged to be married at the time of his illness, and when he learned what was likely to be its result, had 申し込む／申し出d to 解放（する） the young lady from all 義務 to him. But she would not be 解放（する）d, and they were married. This had taken place some five years previous to Mr. Hasbrouck's death, three of which had been spent by them in Lafayette Place.

So much for the beautiful woman next door.

There 存在 絶対 no 手がかり（を与える） to the 加害者 of Mr. Hasbrouck, I 自然に looked 今後 to the 検死 for some 証拠 upon which to work. But there seemed to be no underlying facts to this 悲劇. The most careful 熟考する／考慮する into the habits and 行為／行う of the 死んだ brought nothing to light save his general beneficence and rectitude, nor was there in his history or in that of his wife, any secret or hidden 義務 calculated to 刺激する any such 行為／法令／行動する of 復讐 as 殺人. Mrs. Hasbrouck's surmise that the 侵入者 was 簡単に a 夜盗，押し込み強盗, and that she had rather imagined than heard the words which pointed to the 狙撃 as a 行為 of vengeance, soon 伸び（る）d general credence.

But though the police worked long and arduously in this new direction their 成果／努力s were without fruit and the 事例／患者 企て，努力，提案s fair to remain an unsolvable mystery.

That was all. As Violet dropped the last page from her 手渡す, she 解任するd a 確かな phrase in her 雇用者's letter. "If at the end you come upon a perfectly blank 塀で囲む—" 井戸／弁護士席, she had come upon this 塀で囲む. Did he 推定する／予想する her to make an 開始 in it? Or had he already done so himself, and was 単に 実験（する）ing her much vaunted discernment.

Piqued by the thought, she carefully reread the manuscript, and when she had again reached its uncompromising end, she gave herself up to a few minutes of concentrated thought, then, taking a sheet of paper from the rack before her, she wrote upon it a 選び出す／独身 宣告，判決, and 倍のing the sheet, put it in an envelope which she left unaddressed. This done, she went to bed and slept like the child she really was.

At an 早期に hour the next morning she entered her 雇用者's office. 認めるing with a nod his somewhat ceremonious 屈服する, she 手渡すd him the envelope in which she had enclosed that one mysterious 宣告，判決.

He took it with a smile, opened it offhand, ちらりと見ることd at what she had written, and 紅潮／摘発するd a vivid red.

"You are a—brick," he was going to say, but changed the last word to one more in keeping with her character and 外見. "Look here. I 推定する／予想するd this from you and so 用意が出来ている myself." Taking out a 類似の piece of paper from his own pocket-調書をとる／予約する, he laid it 負かす／撃墜する beside hers on the desk before him. It also held a 選び出す／独身 宣告，判決 and, barring a slight difference of 表現, the one was the 相当するもの of the other. "The one loose 石／投石する," he murmured.

"Seen and 公式文書，認めるd by both."

"Why not?" he asked. Then as she ちらりと見ることd expectantly his way, he 真面目に 追加するd: "Together we may be able to do something. The reward 申し込む／申し出d by Mrs. Hasbrouck for the （犯罪，病気などの）発見 of the 殺害者 was a very large one. She is a woman of means. I have never heard of its 存在 孤立した."

"Then it never has been," was Violet's emphatic 結論, her dimples 施行するing the 声明 as only such dimples can. "But—what do you want of me in an 事件／事情／状勢 of this 肉親，親類d? Something more than to help you 位置を示す the one possible 手がかり（を与える） to その上の enlightenment. You would not have について言及するd the big reward just for that."

"Perhaps not. There is a sequel to the story I sent you. I have written it out, with my own 手渡す. Take it home and read it at your leisure. When you see into what an unhappy maze my own 調査s have led me, かもしれない you will be glad to 補助装置 me in （疑いを）晴らすing up a 状況／情勢 which is （打撃，刑罰などを）与えるing 広大な／多数の／重要な 苦しむing on one whom you will be the first to pity. If so, a line について言及するing the fact will be much 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がるd by me." And 無視（する）ing her startled look and the impetuous shaking of her 長，率いる, he 屈服するd her out with something more than his accustomed suavity but also with a 真面目さ which 影響する／感情d her in spite of herself and effectually held 支援する the 抗議する it was in her heart to make. She was glad of this when she read his story; but later on—

However, it is not for me to intrude Violet, or Violet's feelings into an 事件／事情／状勢 which she is so anxious to forget. I shall therefore from this moment on, leave her as 完全に out of this tale of 罪，犯罪 and 天罰 as is possible and keep a 十分な 記録，記録的な／記録する of her work. When she is necessary to the story, you will see her again. 一方／合間, read with her, this relation of her 雇用者's unhappy 試みる／企てる to 追求する an 調査 so 率直に dropped by the police. You will perceive, from its general style and the accentuation put upon the human 味方する of this sombre story, a likeness to the former manuscript which may 証明する to you, as it certainly did to Violet, to whose consideration she was indebted for the readableness of the policeman's 報告（する）／憶測, which in all probability had been a simple 声明 of facts.

But there, I am speaking of Violet again. To 妨げる a その上の mischance of this nature, I will introduce at once the above について言及するd account.

II

No man in all New York was ever more 利益／興味d than myself in the Hasbrouck 事件／事情／状勢, when it was the one and only topic of 利益／興味 at a period when news was 異常に 不十分な. But, together with many such inexplicable mysteries, it had passed almost 完全に from my mind, when it was 強制的に brought 支援する, one day, by a walk I took through Lafayette Place.

At sight of the long 列／漕ぐ／騒動 of uniform buildings, with their 中心存在d 前線s and connecting balconies every 詳細（に述べる） of the 罪，犯罪 which had filled the papers at the time with innumerable conjectures returned to me with 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の clearness, and, before I knew it, I 設立する myself standing stockstill in the middle of the 封鎖する with my 注目する，もくろむ raised to the Hasbrouck house and my ears—or rather my inner consciousness, for no one spoke I am sure—（犯罪の）一味ing with a question which, whether the echo of some old thought or the 表現 of a new one, so 影響する／感情d me by the 約束 it held of some hitherto unsuspected 手がかり（を与える）, that I hesitated whether to 押し進める this new 調査 then or there by an 試みる／企てるd interview with Mrs. Hasbrouck, or to wait till I had given it the thought which such a stirring of dead bones rightfully 需要・要求するd.

You know what that question was. I shall have communicated it to you, if you have not already guessed it, before perusing these lines:

"Who uttered the 叫び声をあげる which gave the first alarm of Mr. Hasbrouck's violent death?"

I was in a 明言する／公表する of such excitement as I walked away—for I listened to my better judgment as to the inadvisability of my 乱すing Mrs. Hasbrouck with these new 調査s—that the perspiration stood out on my forehead. The 証言 she had given at the 検死 recurred to me, and I remembered as distinctly as if she were then speaking, that she had expressly 明言する／公表するd that she did not 叫び声をあげる when 直面するd by the sight of her husband's dead 団体／死体. But someone had 叫び声をあげるd and that very loudly. Who was it, then? One of the maids, startled by the sudden 召喚するs from below, or someone else—some involuntary 証言，証人／目撃する of the 罪，犯罪, whose 証言 had been 抑えるd at the 検死, by 恐れる or 影響（力）?

The 可能性 of having come upon a 手がかり（を与える） even at this late day so 解雇する／砲火／射撃d my ambition that I took the first 適切な時期 of revisiting Lafayette Place. Choosing such persons as I thought most open to my questions, I learned that there were many who could 証言する to having heard a woman's shrill 叫び声をあげる on that memorable night, just 事前の to the alarm given by old Cyrus, but no one who could tell from whose lips it had come. One fact, however, was すぐに settled. It had not been the result of the servant-women's 恐れるs. Both of the girls were 肯定的な that they had uttered no sound, nor had they themselves heard any till Cyrus 急ぐd to the window with his wild cries. As the 叫び声をあげる, by whomever given, was uttered before they descended the stairs, I was 納得させるd by these 保証／確信s that it had 問題／発行するd from one of the 前線 windows, and not from the 後部 of the house, where their own rooms lay. Could it be that it had sprung from the 隣接するing dwelling, and that—

I remembered who had lived there and was for （犯罪の）一味ing the bell at once. But, 行方不明の the doctor's 調印する, I made 調査s and 設立する that he had moved from the 封鎖する. However, a doctor is soon 設立する, and in いっそう少なく than fifteen, minutes I was at the door of his new home, where I asked, not for him, but for Mrs. Zabriskie.

It 要求するd some courage to do this, for I had taken particular notice of the doctor's wife at the 検死, and her beauty, at that time, had worn such an 面 of mingled sweetness and dignity that I hesitated to 遭遇（する） it under any circumstances likely to 乱す its pure serenity. But a 手がかり（を与える） once しっかり掴むd cannot be lightly 始める，決める aside by a true 探偵，刑事, and it would have taken more than a woman's frowns to stop me at this point.

However, it was not with frowns she received me, but with a 陳列する，発揮する of emotion for which I was even いっそう少なく 用意が出来ている. I had sent up my card and I saw it trembling in her 手渡す as she entered the room. As she 近づくd me, she ちらりと見ることd at it, and with a show of gentle 無関心／冷淡 which did not in the least disguise her extreme 苦悩, she courteously 発言／述べるd:

"Your 指名する is an unfamiliar one to me. But you told my maid that your 商売／仕事 was one of extreme importance, and so I have 同意d to see you. What can an スパイ／執行官 from a 私立探偵 office have to say to me?"

Startled by this 証拠 of the 存在 of some hidden 骸骨／概要 in her own closet, I made an 即座の 試みる／企てる to 安心させる her.

"Nothing which 関心s you 本人自身で," said I. "I 簡単に wish to ask you a question in regard to a small 事柄 connected with Mr. Hasbrouck's violent death in Lafayette Place, a couple of years ago. You were living in the 隣接するing house at the time I believe, and it has occurred to me that you might on that account be able to settle a point which has never been fully （疑いを）晴らすd up."

Instead of showing the 救済 I 推定する／予想するd, her pallor 増加するd and her 罰金 注目する，もくろむs, which had been 直す／買収する，八百長をするd curiously upon me, sank in 混乱 to the 床に打ち倒す.

"広大な／多数の／重要な heaven!" thought I. "She looks as if at one more word from me, she would 落ちる at my feet in a faint. What is this I have つまずくd upon!"

"I do not see how you can have any question to ask me on that 支配する," she began with an 成果／努力 at composure which for some 推論する／理由 乱すd me more than her previous open 陳列する，発揮する of 恐れる. "Yet if you have," she continued, with a 早い change of manner that touched my heart in spite of myself, "I shall, of course, do my best to answer you."

There are women whose sweetest トンs and most charming smiles only serve to awaken 不信 in men of my calling; but Mrs. Zabriskie was not of this number. Her 直面する was beautiful, but it was also candid in its 表現, and beneath the agitation which palpably 乱すd her, I was sure there lurked nothing either wicked or 誤った. Yet I held 急速な／放蕩な by the 手がかり（を与える） which I had しっかり掴むd as it were in the dark, and without knowing whither I was tending, much いっそう少なく whither I was 主要な her, I proceeded to say:

"The question which I 推定する to put to you as the next door 隣人 of Mr. Hasbrouck is this: Who was the woman who on the night of that gentleman's 暗殺 叫び声をあげるd out so loudly that the whole neighbourhood heard her?"

The gasp she gave answered my question in a way she little realized, and struck as I was by the impalpable links that had led me to the threshold of this hitherto unsolvable mystery, I was about to 圧力（をかける） my advantage and ask another question, when she quickly started 今後 and laid her 手渡す on my lips.

Astonished, I looked at her inquiringly, but her 長，率いる was turned aside, and her 注目する，もくろむs, 直す／買収する，八百長をするd upon the door, showed the greatest 苦悩. 即時に I realized what she 恐れるd. Her husband was entering the house, and she dreaded lest his ears should catch a word of our conversation.

Not knowing what was in her mind, and unable to realize the importance of the moment to her, I yet listened to the 前進する of her blind husband with an almost painful 利益／興味. Would he enter the room where we were, or would he pass すぐに to his office in the 後部? She seemed to wonder too, and almost held her breath as he 近づくd the door, paused, and stood in the open doorway, with his ear turned に向かって us.

As for myself, I remained perfectly still, gazing at his 直面する in mingled surprise and 逮捕. For besides its beauty, which was of a 示すd order, as I have already 観察するd, it had a touching 表現 which irresistibly 誘発するd both pity and 利益／興味 in the 観客. This may have been the result of his affliction, or it may have sprung from some deeper 原因（となる）; but, whatever its source, this look in his 直面する produced a strong impression upon me and 利益／興味d me at once in his personality. Would he enter; or would he pass on? Her look of silent 控訴，上告 showed me in which direction her wishes lay, but while I answered her ちらりと見ること by 完全にする silence, I was conscious in some indistinct way that the 商売／仕事 I had undertaken would be better その上のd by his 入り口.

The blind have often been said to 所有する a sixth sense in place of the one they have lost. Though I am sure we made no noise, I soon perceived that he was aware of our presence. Stepping あわてて 今後 he said, in the high and vibrating トン of 抑制するd passion:

"Zulma, are you there?"

For a moment I thought she did not mean to answer, but knowing doubtless from experience the impossibility of deceiving him, she answered with a cheerful assent, dropping her 手渡す as she did so from before my lips.

He heard the slight rustle which …を伴ってd the movement, and a look I 設立する it hard to comprehend flashed over his features, altering his 表現 so 完全に that he seemed another man.

"You have someone with you," he 宣言するd, 前進するing another step, but with 非，不，無 of the 不確定 which usually …を伴ってs the movements of the blind. "Some dear friend," he went on, with an almost sarcastic 強調 and a 軍隊d smile that had little of gaiety in it.

The agitated and 苦しめるd blush which answered him could have but one 解釈／通訳. He 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd that her 手渡す had been clasped in 地雷, and she perceived his thought and knew that I perceived it also.

製図／抽選 herself up, she moved に向かって him, 説 in a 甘い womanly トン:

"It is no friend, Constant, not even an 知識. The person whom I now 現在の to you is a 代表者／国会議員 from some 探偵，刑事 機関. He is here upon a trivial errand which will soon be finished, when I will join you in the office."

I knew she was but taking a choice between two evils, that she would have saved her husband the knowledge of my calling 同様に as of my presence in the house, if her self-尊敬（する）・点 would have 許すd it; but neither she nor I 心配するd the 影響 which this introduction of myself in my 商売／仕事 capacity would produce upon him.

"A 探偵，刑事," he repeated, 星／主役にするing with his sightless 注目する，もくろむs, as if, in his 切望 to see, he half hoped his lost sense would return. "He can have no trivial errand here; he has been sent by God Himself to—"

"Let me speak for you," あわてて interposed his wife, springing to his 味方する and clasping his arm with a fervour that was 平等に expressive of 控訴，上告 and 命令（する）. Then turning to me, she explained: "Since Mr. Hasbrouck's unaccountable death, my husband has been 労働ing under an hallucination which I have only to について言及する, for you to 認める its perfect absurdity. He thinks—oh! do not look like that, Constant; you know it is an hallucination which must 消える the moment we drag it into 幅の広い daylight—that he—he, the best man in all the world, was himself the 加害者 of Mr. Hasbrouck."

"Good God!"

"I say nothing of the impossibility of this 存在 so," she went on in a fever of expostulation. "He is blind, and could not have 配達するd such a 発射 even if he had 願望（する）d to; besides, he had no 武器. But the inconsistency of the thing speaks for itself, and should 保証する him that his mind is unbalanced and that he is 単に 苦しむing from a shock that was greater than we realized. He is a 内科医 and has had many such instances in his own practice. Why, he was very much 大（公）使館員d to Mr. Hasbrouck! They were the best of friends, and though he 主張するs that he killed him, he cannot give any 推論する／理由 for the 行為."

At these words the doctor's 直面する grew 厳しい, and he spoke like an automaton repeating some fearful lesson:

"I killed him. I went to his room and deliberately 発射 him. I had nothing against him, and my 悔恨 is extreme. 逮捕（する） me and let me 支払う／賃金 the 刑罰，罰則 of my 罪，犯罪. It is the only way in which I can 得る peace."

Shocked beyond all 力／強力にする of self-支配（する）／統制する by this repetition of what she evidently considered the unhappy ravings of a madman, she let go his arm and turned upon me in frenzy.

"納得させる him!" she cried. "納得させる him by your questions that he never could have done this fearful thing."

I was 労働ing under 広大な／多数の／重要な excitement myself, for as a 私的な スパイ／執行官 with no 公式の／役人 当局 such as he evidently せいにするd to me in the blindness of his passion, I felt the incongruity of my position in the 直面する of a 事柄 of such 悲劇の consequence. Besides, I agreed with her that he was in a distempered 明言する／公表する of mind, and I hardly knew how to を取り引きする one so 直す／買収する，八百長をするd in his hallucination and with so much 知能 to support it. But the 緊急 was 広大な／多数の／重要な, for he was 持つ／拘留するing out his wrists in the evident 期待 of my taking him into instant 保護／拘留; and the sight was 殺人，大当り his wife, who had sunk on the 床に打ち倒す between us, in terror and anguish.

"You say you killed Mr. Hasbrouck," I began. "Where did you get your ピストル, and what did you do with it after you left his house?"

"My husband had no ピストル; never had any ピストル," put in Mrs. Zabriskie, with vehement 主張. "If I had seen him with such a 武器—"

"I threw it away. When I left the house, I cast it as far from me as possible, for I was 脅すd at what I had done, horribly 脅すd."

"No ピストル was ever 設立する," I answered with a smile, forgetting for the moment that he could not see. "If such an 器具 had been 設立する in the street after a 殺人 of such consequence, it certainly would have been brought to the police."

"You forget that a good ピストル is 価値のある 所有物／資産／財産," he went on stolidly. "Someone （機の）カム along before the general alarm was given; and seeing such a treasure lying on the sidewalk, 選ぶd it up and carried it off. Not 存在 an honest man, he preferred to keep it to 製図／抽選 the attention of the police upon himself."

"Hum, perhaps," said I; "but where did you get it. Surely you can tell where you procured such a 武器, if, as your wife intimates, you did not own one."

"I bought it that selfsame night of a friend; a friend whom I will not 指名する, since he resides no longer in this country. I—" He paused; 激しい passion was in his 直面する; he turned に向かって his wife, and a low cry escaped him, which made her look up in 恐れる.

"I do not wish to go into any particulars," said he. "God forsook me and I committed a horrible 罪，犯罪. When I am punished, perhaps peace will return to me and happiness to her. I would not wish her to 苦しむ too long or too 激しく for my sin."

"Constant!" What love was in the cry! It seemed to move him and turn his thoughts for a moment into a different channel.

"Poor child!" he murmured, stretching out his 手渡すs by an irresistible impulse に向かって her. But the change was but momentary, and he was soon again the 厳しい and 決定するd self-accuser. "Are you going to take me before a 治安判事?" he asked. "If so, I have a few 義務s to 成し遂げる which you are welcome to 証言，証人／目撃する."

This was too much; I felt that the time had come for me to disabuse his mind of the impression he had unwittingly formed of me. I therefore said as considerately as I could:

"You mistake my position, Dr. Zabriskie. Though a 探偵，刑事 of some experience, I have no 関係 with the police and no 権利 to intrude myself in a 事柄 of such 悲劇の importance. If, however, you are as anxious as you say to 支配する yourself to police examination, I will について言及する the same to the proper 当局, and leave them to take such 活動／戦闘 as they think best."

"That will be still more 満足な to me," said he; "for though I have many times 熟視する／熟考するd giving myself up, I have still much to do before I can leave my home and practice without 傷害 to others. Good-day; when you want me you will find me here."

He was gone, and the poor young wife was left crouching on the 床に打ち倒す alone. Pitying her shame and terror, I 投機・賭けるd to 発言／述べる that it was not an uncommon thing for a man to 自白する to a 罪，犯罪 he had never committed, and 保証するd her that the 事柄 would be 問い合わせd into very carefully before any 試みる／企てる was made upon his liberty.

She thanked me, and slowly rising, tried to 回復する her equanimity; but the manner 同様に as the 事柄 of her husband's self-激しい非難 was too 圧倒的な in its nature for her to 回復する readily from her emotions.

"I have long dreaded this," she 定評のある. "For months I have foreseen that he would make some 無分別な communication or insane avowal. If I had dared, I would have 協議するd some 内科医 about this hallucination of his; but he was so sane on other points that I hesitated to give my dreadful secret to the world. I kept hoping that time and his daily 追跡s would have their 影響 and 回復する him to himself. But his illusion grows, and now I 恐れる that nothing will ever 納得させる him that he did not commit the 行為 of which he 告発する／非難するs himself. If he were not blind I would have more hope, but the blind have so much time for brooding."

"I think he had better be indulged in his fancies for the 現在の," I 投機・賭けるd. "If he is 労働ing under an illusion it might be dangerous to cross him."

"If?" she echoed in an indescribable トン of amazement and dread. "Can you for a moment harbour the idea that he has spoken the truth?"

"Madam," I returned, with something of the cynicism of my calling, "what 原因（となる）d you to give such an unearthly 叫び声をあげる just before this 殺人 was made known to the neighbourhood?"

She 星／主役にするd, paled, and finally began to tremble, not, as I now believe, at the insinuation latent in my words, but at the 疑問s which my question 誘発するd in her own breast.

"Did I?" she asked; then with a burst of candour which seemed inseparable from her nature, she continued: "Why do I try to 誤って導く you or deceive myself? I did give a shriek just before the alarm was raised next door; but it was not from any knowledge I had of a 罪，犯罪 having been committed, but because I 突然に saw before me my husband whom I supposed to be on his way to Poughkeepsie. He was looking very pale and strange, and for a moment I thought I stood 直面する to 直面する with his ghost. But he soon explained his 外見 by 説 that he had fallen from the train and had only been saved by a 奇蹟 from 存在 dismembered; and I was just bemoaning his 事故 and trying to 静める him and myself, when that terrible shout was heard next door of '殺人! 殺人!' Coming so soon after the shock he had himself experienced, it やめる unnerved him, and I think we can date his mental 騒動 from that moment. For he began すぐに to take a morbid 利益／興味 in the 事件／事情／状勢 next door, though it was weeks, if not months, before he let a word 落ちる of the nature of those you have just heard. Indeed it was not till I repeated to him some of the 表現s he was continually letting 落ちる in his sleep, that he 開始するd to 告発する／非難する himself of 罪，犯罪 and talk of 天罰."

"You say that your husband 脅すd you on that night by appearing suddenly at the door when you thought him on his way to Poughkeepsie. Is Dr. Zabriskie in the habit of thus going and coming alone at an hour so late as this must have been?"

"You forget that to the blind, night is いっそう少なく 十分な of 危険，危なくするs than the day. Often and often has my husband 設立する his way to his 患者s' houses alone after midnight; but on this especial evening he had Leonard with him. Leonard was his chauffeur, and always …を伴ってd him when he went any distance."

"井戸／弁護士席, then," said I, "all we have to do is to 召喚する Leonard and hear what he has to say 関心ing this 事件／事情／状勢. He will surely know whether or not his master went into the house next door."

"Leonard has left us," she said. "Dr. Zabriskie has another chauffeur now. Besides (I have nothing to 隠す from you), Leonard was not with him when he returned to the house that evening or the doctor would not have been without his portmanteau till the next day. Something—I have never known what—原因（となる）d them to separate, and that is why I have no answer to give the doctor when he 告発する／非難するs himself of committing a 行為 that night so wholly out of keeping with every other 行為／法令／行動する of his life."

"And have you never asked Leonard why they separated and why he 許すd his master to come home alone after the shock he had received at the 駅／配置する?"

"I did not know there was any 推論する／理由 for my doing so till long after he had left us."

"And when did he leave?"

"That I do not remember. A few weeks or かもしれない a few days after that dreadful night."

"And where is he now?"

"Ah, that I have not the least means of knowing. But," she 反対するd, in sudden 不信, "what do you want of Leonard? If he did not follow Dr. Zabriskie to his own door, he could tell us nothing that would 納得させる my husband that he is 労働ing under an illusion."

"But he might tell us something which would 納得させる us that Dr. Zabriskie was not himself after the 事故; that he—"

"Hush!" （機の）カム from her lips in imperious トンs. "I will not believe that he 発射 Mr. Hasbrouck even if you 証明する him to have been insane at the time. How could he? My husband is blind. It would take a man of very keen sight to 軍隊 himself into a house の近くにd for the night, and kill a man in the dark at one 発射."

"On the contrary, it is only a blind man who could do this," cried a 発言する／表明する from the doorway. "Those who 信用 to eyesight must be able to catch a glimpse of the 示す they 目的（とする） at, and this room, as I have been told, was without a 微光 of light. But the blind 信用 to sound, and as Mr. Hasbrouck spoke—"

"Oh!" burst from the horrified wife, "is there no one to stop him when he speaks like that?"

III

As you will see, this 事柄, so recklessly entered into, had 証明するd to be of too serious a nature for me to 追求する it さらに先に without the cognizance of the police. Having a friend on the 軍隊 in whose discretion I could rely, I took him into my 信用／信任 and asked for his advice. He pooh-poohed the doctor's 声明s, but said that he would bring the 事柄 to the attention of the superintendent and let me know the result. I agreed to this, and we parted with the 相互の understanding that mum was the word till some 公式の／役人 決定／判定勝ち（する） had been arrived at. I had not long to wait. At an 早期に day he （機の）カム in with the （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） that there had been, as might be 推定する／予想するd, a 分割 of opinion の中で his superiors as to the importance of Dr. Zabriskie's いわゆる 自白, but in one point they had been 全員一致の and that was the desirability of his appearing before them at （警察，軍隊などの）本部 for a personal examination. As, however, in the mind of two out of three of them his 条件 was せいにするd 完全に to 激烈な／緊急の mania, it had been thought best to 雇う as their 特使 one in whom he had already confided and submitted his 事例／患者 to,—in other words, myself. The time was 始める，決める for the next afternoon at the の近くに of his usual office hours.

He went without 不本意, his wife …を伴ってing him. In the short time which elapsed between their leaving home and entering （警察，軍隊などの）本部, I embraced the 適切な時期 of 観察するing them, and I 設立する the 熟考する／考慮する 平等に exciting and 利益／興味ing. His 直面する was 静める but hopeless, and his 注目する，もくろむ, dark and unfathomable, but neither frenzied nor uncertain. He spoke but once and listened to nothing, though now and then his wife moved as if to attract his attention, and once even stole her 手渡す に向かって his, in the tender hope that he would feel its approach and 受託する her sympathy. But he was deaf 同様に as blind; and sat wrapped up in thoughts which she, I know, would have given worlds to 侵入する.

Her countenance was not without its mystery also. She showed in every lineament 熱烈な 関心 and 悲惨, and a 深い tenderness from which the element of 恐れる was not absent. But she, 同様に as he, betrayed that some 誤解 deeper than any I had 以前 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd drew its intangible 隠す between them and made the 近づく proximity in which they sat at once a heart-piercing delight and an unspeakable 苦痛. What was the 誤解; and what was the character of the 恐れる that 修正するd her every look of love in his direction? Her perfect 無関心／冷淡 to my presence 証明するd that it was not connected with the position in which he had placed himself に向かって the police by his voluntary 自白 of 罪，犯罪, nor could I thus 解釈する／通訳する the 表現, of frantic question which now and then 契約d her features, as she raised her 注目する，もくろむs に向かって his sightless orbs, and strove to read in his 会社／堅い 始める，決める lips the meaning of those 主張s she could only ascribe to loss of 推論する／理由.

The stopping of the carriage seemed to awaken both from thoughts that separated rather than 部隊d them. He turned his 直面する in her direction, and she stretching 前へ／外へ her 手渡す, 用意が出来ている to lead him from the carriage, without any of that 陳列する，発揮する of timidity which had 以前 been evident in her manner.

As his guide she seemed to 恐れる nothing; as his lover, everything.

"There is another and a deeper 悲劇 underlying the outward and obvious one," was my inward 結論, as I followed them into the presence of the gentlemen を待つing them.

Dr. Zabriskie's 静かな 外見 was in itself a shock to those who had 心配するd the feverish 不安 of a madman; so was his speech, which was 静める, straightforward, and 静かに 決定するd.

"I 発射 Mr. Hasbrouck," was his 安定した affirmation, given without any show of frenzy or desperation. "If you ask me why I did it, I cannot answer; if you ask me how, I am ready to 明言する／公表する all that I know 関心ing the 事柄."

"But, Dr. Zabriskie," interposed one of the 視察官s, "the why is the most important thing for us to consider just now. If you really 願望（する） to 納得させる us that you committed this dreadful 罪，犯罪 of 殺人，大当り a 全く inoffensive man, you should give us some 推論する／理由 for an 行為／法令／行動する so …に反対するd to all your instincts and general 行為／行う."

But the doctor continued unmoved:

"I had no 推論する／理由 for 殺人ing Mr. Hasbrouck. A hundred questions can elicit no other reply; you had better keep to the how."

A 深い-drawn breath from the wife answered the looks of the three gentlemen to whom this suggestion was 申し込む／申し出d. "You see," that breath seemed to 抗議する, "that he is not in his 権利 mind."

I began to waver in my own opinion, and yet the intuition which has served me in 事例／患者s seemingly as impenetrable as this bade me beware of に引き続いて the general judgment.

"Ask him to 知らせる you how he got into the house," I whispered to 視察官 D—, who sat nearest me.

すぐに the 視察官 put the question which I had 示唆するd:

"By what means did you enter Mr. Hasbrouck's house at so late an hour as this 殺人 occurred?"

The blind doctor's 長，率いる fell 今後 on his breast, and he hesitated for the first and only time.

"You will not believe me," said he; "but the door was ajar when I （機の）カム to it. Such things make 罪，犯罪 平易な; it is the only excuse I have to 申し込む／申し出 for this dreadful 行為."

The 前線 door of a respectable 国民's house ajar at half-past eleven at night! It was a 声明 that 直す／買収する，八百長をするd in all minds the 有罪の判決 of the （衆議院の）議長's irresponsibility. Mrs. Zabriskie's brow （疑いを）晴らすd, and her beauty became for a moment dazzling as she held out her 手渡すs in irrepressible 救済 に向かって those who were interrogating her husband. I alone kept my impassibility. A possible explanation of this 罪，犯罪 had flashed like 雷 across my mind; an explanation from which I inwardly recoiled, even while I felt 軍隊d to consider it.

"Dr. Zabriskie," 発言／述べるd the 視察官 以前は について言及するd as friendly to him, "such old servants as those kept by Mr. Hasbrouck do not leave the 前線 door ajar at twelve o'clock at night."

"Yet ajar it was," repeated the blind doctor, with 静かな 強調; "and finding it so, I went in. When I （機の）カム out again, I の近くにd it. Do you wish me to 断言する to what I say? If so, I am ready."

What reply could they give? To see this splendid-looking man, hallowed by an affliction so 広大な／多数の／重要な that in itself it called 前へ／外へ the compassion of the most indifferent, 告発する／非難するing himself of a 冷淡な-血d 罪，犯罪, in トンs which sounded dispassionate because of the will 軍隊ing their utterance, was too painful in itself for any one to indulge in unnecessary words. Compassion took the place of curiosity, and each and all of us turned involuntary looks of pity upon the young wife 圧力（をかける）ing so 熱望して to his 味方する.

"For a blind man," 投機・賭けるd one, "the 強襲，強姦 was both deft and 確かな . Are you accustomed to Mr. Hasbrouck's house, that you 設立する your way with so little difficulty to his bedroom?"

"I am accustomed—" he began.

But here his wife broke in with irrepressible passion:

"He is not accustomed to that house. He has never been beyond the first 床に打ち倒す. Why, why do you question him? Do you not see—"

His 手渡す was on her lips.

"Hush!" he 命令（する）d. "You know my 技術 in moving about a house; how I いつかs deceive those who do not know me into believing that I can see, by the 準備完了 with which I 避ける 障害s and find my way even in strange and untried scenes. Do not try to make them think I am not in my 権利 mind, or you will 運動 me into the very 条件 you せいにする to me."

His 直面する, rigid, 冷淡な, and 始める，決める, looked like that of a mask. Hers, drawn with horror and filled with question that was 急速な／放蕩な taking the form of 疑問, bespoke an awful 悲劇 from which more than one of us recoiled.

"Can you shoot a man dead without seeing him?" asked the Superintendent, with painful 成果／努力.

"Give me a ピストル and I will show you," was the quick reply.

A low cry （機の）カム from the wife. In a drawer 近づく to every one of us there lay a ピストル, but no one moved to take it out. There was a look in the doctor's 注目する，もくろむ which made us 恐れる to 信用 him with a ピストル just then.

"We will 受託する your 保証／確信 that you 所有する a 技術 beyond that of most men," returned the Superintendent. And beckoning me 今後, he whispered: "This is a 事例／患者 for the doctors and not for the police. 除去する him 静かに, and 通知する Dr. Southyard of what I say."

But Dr. Zabriskie, who seemed to have an almost supernatural acuteness of 審理，公聴会, gave a violent start at this, and spoke up for the first time with real passion in his 発言する／表明する:

"No, no, I pray you. I can 耐える anything but that. Remember, gentlemen, that I am blind; that I cannot see who is about me; that my life would be a 拷問 if I felt myself surrounded by 秘かに調査するs watching to catch some 証拠 of madness in me. Rather 有罪の判決 at once, death, dishonour, and obloquy. These I have incurred. These I have brought upon myself by 罪，犯罪, but not this worse 運命／宿命—oh! not this worse 運命／宿命."

His passion was so 激しい and yet so 限定するd within the bounds of decorum, that we felt strangely impressed by it. Only the wife stood transfixed, with the dread growing in her heart, till her white, waxen visage seemed even more terrible to 熟視する／熟考する than his passion-distorted one.

"It is not strange that my wife thinks me demented," the doctor continued, as if afraid of the silence that answered him. "But it is your 商売／仕事 to 差別する, and you should know a sane man when you see him."

視察官 D— no longer hesitated.

"Very 井戸／弁護士席," said he, "give me the least proof that your 主張s are true, and we will lay your 事例／患者 before the 起訴するing 弁護士／代理人／検事."

"Proof? Is not a man's word—"

"No man's 自白 is 価値（がある） much without some 証拠 to support it. In your 事例／患者 there is 非，不，無. You cannot even produce the ピストル with which you 主張する yourself to have committed the 行為."

"True, true. I was 脅すd by what I had done, and the instinct of self-保護 led me to rid myself of the 武器 in any way I could. But someone 設立する this ピストル; someone 選ぶd it up from the sidewalk of Lafayette Place on that 致命的な night. Advertise for it. 申し込む／申し出 a reward. I will give you the money." Suddenly he appeared to realize how all this sounded. "式のs!" cried he, "I know the story seems improbable; but it is not the probable things that happen in this life, as, you should know, who every day dig 深い into the heart of human 事件／事情／状勢s."

Were these the ravings of insanity? I began to understand the wife's terror.

"I bought the ピストル," he went on, "of—式のs! I cannot tell you his 指名する. Everything is against me. I cannot adduce one proof; yet even she is beginning to 恐れる that my story is true. I know it by her silence, a silence that yawns between us like a 深い and unfathomable 湾."

But at these words her 発言する／表明する rang out with 熱烈な vehemence.

"No, no, it is 誤った! I will never believe that your 手渡すs have been 急落（する），激減（する）d in 血. You are my own pure-hearted Constant, 冷淡な, perhaps, and 厳しい, but with no 犯罪 upon your 良心 save in your own wild imagination."

"Zulma, you are no friend to me," he 宣言するd, 押し進めるing her gently aside. "Believe me innocent, but say nothing to lead these others to 疑問 my word."

And she said no more, but her looks spoke 容積／容量s.

The result was that he was not 拘留するd, though he prayed for instant かかわり合い. He seemed to dread his own home, and the 監視 to which he instinctively knew he would henceforth be 支配するd. To see him 縮む from his wife's 手渡す as she strove to lead him from the room was 十分に painful; but the feeling thus 誘発するd was nothing to that with which we 観察するd the keen and agonized 見込み of his look as he turned and listened for the steps of the officer who followed him.

"From this time on I shall never know whether or not I am alone," was his final 観察 as he left the building.

Here is where the 事柄 残り／休憩（する）s and here, 行方不明になる Strange, is where you come in. The police were for sending an 専門家 alienist into the house; but agreeing with me, and, in fact, with the doctor himself, that if he were not already out of his mind, this would certainly make them so, they, at my earnest intercession, have left the next move to me.

That move as you must by this time understand 伴う／関わるs you. You have advantages for making Mrs. Zabriskie's 知識 of which I beg you to avail yourself. As friend or 患者, you must 勝利，勝つ your way into that home? You must sound to its depths one or both of these two wretched hearts. Not so much now for any possible reward which may follow the elucidation of this mystery which has come so 近づく 存在 棚上げにするd, but for pity's sake and the possible 解決／入植地 of a question which is 急速な／放蕩な 運動ing a lovely member of your sex distracted.

May I rely on you? If so—

さまざまな 指示／教授／教育s followed, over which Violet mused with a deprecatory shaking of her 長，率いる till the little clock struck two. Why should she, already in a 明言する／公表する of secret despondency, intrude herself into an 事件／事情／状勢 at once so painful and so hopeless?

IV

But by morning her mood changed. The pathos of the 状況／情勢 had 掴むd upon her in her dreams, and before the day was over, she was to be seen, as a 見込みのある 患者, in Dr. Zabriskie's office. She had a slight （民事の）告訴 as her excuse, and she made the most of it. That is, at first, but as the personality of this 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の man began to make its usual impression, she 設立する herself forgetting her own 条件 in the intensity of 利益／興味 she felt in his. Indeed, she had to pull herself together more than once lest he should 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑う the 二塁打 nature of her errand, and she 現実に caught herself at times rejoicing in his affliction since it left her with only her 発言する／表明する to think of, in her hated but necessary 仕事 of deception.

That she 後継するd in this 成果／努力, even with one of his nice ear, was evident from the 利益／興味d way in which he dilated upon her malady, and the minute 指示／教授／教育s he was careful to give her—the 内科医 存在 always uppermost in his strange 二重の nature, when he was in his office or at the 病人の枕元 of the sick;—and had she not been a 深い reader of the human soul she would have left his presence in simple wonder at his 技術 and entire absorption in an exacting profession.

But as it was, she carried with her an image of subdued 苦しむing, which drove her, from that moment on, to ask herself what she could do to 援助（する） him in his fight against his own illusion; for to associate such a man with a senseless and cruel 殺人 was preposterous.

What this wish, helped by no ありふれた 決意, led her into, it was not in her mind to conceive. She was making her one 広大な／多数の／重要な mistake, but as yet she was in happy ignorance of it, and 追求するd the course laid out for her without a 疑問 of the ultimate result.

Having seen and made up her mind about the husband, she next sought to see and 計器 the wife. That she 後継するd in doing this by means of one of her sly little tricks is not to the point; but what followed in natural consequence is very much so. A 相互の 利益／興味 sprang up between them which led very speedily to actual friendship. Mrs. Zabriskie's hungry heart opened to the 同情的な little 存在 who clung to her in such evident 賞賛; while Violet, brought 直面する to 直面する with a real woman, succumbed to feelings which made it no 課税 on her part to spend much of her leisure in Zulma Zabriskie's company.

The result were the に引き続いて naive 報告（する）／憶測s which drifted into her 雇用者's office from day to day, as this intimacy 深くするd.

The doctor is settling into a 深い melancholy, from which he tries to rise at times, but with only indifferent success. Yesterday he 棒 around to all his 患者s for the 目的 of 身を引くing his services on the 嘆願 of illness. But he still keeps his office open, and today I had the 適切な時期 of 証言，証人／目撃するing his 歓迎会 and 治療 of the many 苦しんでいる人s who （機の）カム to him for 援助（する）. I think he was conscious of my presence, though an 試みる／企てる had been made to 隠す it. For the listening look never left his 直面する from the moment he entered the room, and once he rose and passed quickly from 塀で囲む to 塀で囲む, groping with out-stretched 手渡すs into every nook and corner, and barely escaping 接触する with the curtain behind which I was hidden. But if he 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd my presence, he showed no displeasure at it, wishing perhaps for a 証言，証人／目撃する to his 技術 in the 治療 of 病気.

And truly I never beheld a finer manifestation of practical insight in 事例／患者s of a more or いっそう少なく baffling nature. He is certainly a most wonderful 内科医, and I feel bound to 記録，記録的な／記録する that his mind is as （疑いを）晴らす for 商売／仕事 as if no 影をつくる／尾行する had fallen upon it.

Dr. Zabriskie loves his wife, but in a way 拷問ing to himself and to her. If she is gone from the house he is wretched, and yet when she returns he often forbears to speak to her, or if he does speak it is with a 強制 that 傷つけるs her more than his silence. I was 現在の when she （機の）カム in today. Her step, which had been eager on the stairway, flagged as she approached the room, and he 自然に 公式文書，認めるd the change and gave his own 解釈／通訳 to it. His 直面する, which had been very pale, 紅潮／摘発するd suddenly, and a nervous trembling 掴むd him which he sought in vain to hide. But by the time her tall and beautiful 人物／姿／数字 stood in the doorway, he was his usual self again in all but the 表現 of his 注目する，もくろむs, which 星／主役にするd straight before him in an agony of longing only to be 観察するd in those who have once seen.

"Where have you been, Zulma?" he asked, as contrary to his wont, he moved to 会合，会う her.

"To my mother's, to Arnold & Constable's, and to the hospital, as you requested," was her quick answer, made without 滞るing or 当惑.

He stepped still nearer and took her 手渡す, and as he did so my 注目する，もくろむ fell on his and I 公式文書，認めるd that his finger lay over her pulse in seeming unconsciousness.

"Nowhere else?" he queried.

She smiled the saddest 肉親，親類d of smile and shook her 長，率いる; then, remembering that he could not see this movement, she cried in a wistful トン:

"Nowhere else, Constant; I was too anxious to get 支援する."

I 推定する／予想するd him to 減少（する） her 手渡す at this, but he did not; and his finger still 残り／休憩（する）d on her pulse.

"And whom did you see while you were gone?" he continued.

She told him, 指名するing over several 指名するs.

"You must have enjoyed yourself," was his 冷淡な comment, as he let go her 手渡す and turned away. But his manner showed 救済, and I could not but sympathize with the pitiable 状況／情勢 of a man who 設立する himself 軍隊d into means like this for 調査（する）ing the heart of his young wife.

Yet when I turned に向かって her, I realized that her position was but little happier than his. 涙／ほころびs are no strangers to her 注目する，もくろむs, but those which 井戸／弁護士席d up at this moment seemed to 所有する a bitterness that 約束d but little peace for her 未来. Yet she quickly 乾燥した，日照りのd them and busied herself with ministrations for his 慰安.

If I am any 裁判官 of woman, Zulma Zabriskie is superior to most of her sex. That her husband 不信s her is evident, but whether this is the result of the stand she has taken in his regard, or only a manifestation of dementia, I have as yet been unable to 決定する. I dread to leave them alone together, and yet when I 推定する to 示唆する that she should be on her guard in her interviews with him, she smiles very placidly and tells me that nothing would give her greater joy than to see him 解除する his 手渡す against her, for that would argue that he is not accountable for his 行為s or 主張s.

Yet it would be a grief to see her 負傷させるd by this 熱烈な and unhappy man.

You have said that you 手配中の，お尋ね者 all the 詳細（に述べる）s I could give; so I feel bound to say that Dr. Zabriskie tries to be considerate of his wife, though he often fails in the 試みる／企てる. When she 申し込む／申し出s herself as his guide, or 補助装置s him with his mail or 成し遂げるs any of the many 行為／法令／行動するs of 親切 by which she continually manifests her sense of his affliction, he thanks her with 儀礼 and often with 親切, yet I know she would willingly 交流 all his 始める，決める phrases for one fond embrace or impulsive smile of affection. It would be too much to say that he is not in the 十分な 所有／入手 of his faculties, and yet upon what other hypothesis can we account for the inconsistencies of his 行為／行う?

I have before me two 見通しs of mental 苦しむing. At noon I passed the office door, and looking within, saw the 人物／姿／数字 of Dr. Zabriskie seated in his 広大な／多数の／重要な 議長，司会を務める, lost in thought or 深い in those memories which make an abyss in one's consciousness. His 手渡すs, which were clenched, 残り／休憩（する）d upon the 武器 of his 議長，司会を務める, and in one of them I （悪事，秘密などを）発見するd a woman's glove, which I had no difficulty in 認めるing as one of the pair worn by his wife this morning. He held it as a tiger might 持つ／拘留する his prey or a miser his gold, but his 始める，決める features and sightless 注目する，もくろむs betrayed that a 衝突 of emotions was 存在 行うd within him, の中で which tenderness had but little 株.

Though alive as he usually is to every sound, he was too 吸収するd at this moment to notice my presence, though I had taken no 苦痛s to approach 静かに. I therefore stood for a 十分な minute watching him, till an irresistible sense of the shame at thus 秘かに調査するing upon a blind man in his moments of secret anguish compelled me to 身を引く. But not before I saw his features relax in a 嵐／襲撃する of 熱烈な feeling, as he rained kisses after kisses on the senseless kid he had so long held in his motionless しっかり掴む. Yet when an hour later he entered the dining-room on his wife's arm, there was nothing in his manner to show that he had in any way changed in his 態度 に向かって her.

The other picture was more 悲劇の still. I was 捜し出すing Mrs. Zabriskie in her own room, when I caught a (n)艦隊／(a)素早いing 見通し of her tall form, with her 武器 thrown up over her 長，率いる in a paroxysm of feeling which made her as oblivious to my presence as her husband had been several hours before. Were the words that escaped her lips "Thank God we have no children!" or was this exclamation 示唆するd to me by the passion and unrestrained impulse of her 活動／戦闘?

So much up to date. 利益／興味ing enough, or so her 雇用者 seemed to think, as he went hurriedly through the whole story, one special afternoon in his office, （電話線からの）盗聴 each sheet as he laid it aside with his sagacious forefinger, as though he would say, "Enough! My theory still 持つ／拘留するs good; nothing contradictory here; on the contrary 完全にする and undisputable 確定／確認 of the one and only explanation of this astounding 罪，犯罪."

What was that theory; and in what way and through whose 成果／努力s had he been enabled to form one? The に引き続いて 公式文書，認めるs may enlighten us. Though written in his own 手渡す, and undoubtedly a memorandum of his own activities, he evidently thinks it 価値（がある） while to reperuse them in 関係 with those he had just laid aside.

We can do no better than read them also.

We omit dates.

Watched the Zabriskie mansion for five hours this morning, from the second story window of an 隣接するing hotel. Saw the doctor when he drove away on his 一連の会議、交渉／完成する of visits, and saw him when he returned. A coloured man …を伴ってd him.

Today I followed Mrs. Zabriskie. She went first to a house in Washington Place where I am told her mother lives. Here she stayed some time, after which she drove 負かす／撃墜する to Canal Street, where she did some shopping, and later stopped at the hospital, into which I took the liberty of に引き続いて her. She seemed to know many there, and passed from cot to cot with a smile in which I alone discerned the sadness of a broken heart. When she left, I left also, without having learned anything beyond the fact that Mrs. Zabriskie is one who does her 義務 in 悲しみ as in joy. A rare, and 信頼できる woman I should say, and yet her husband does not 信用 her. Why?

I have spent this day in 蓄積するing 詳細（に述べる）s in regard to Dr. and Mrs. Zabriskie's life previous to the death of Mr. Hasbrouck. I learned from sources it would be unwise to 引用する just here, that Mrs. Zabriskie had not 欠如（する）d enemies to 告発（する），告訴（する）／料金 her with coquetry; that while she had never sacrificed her dignity in public, more than one person had been heard to 宣言する that Dr. Zabriskie was fortunate in 存在 blind, since the sight of his wife's beauty would have but 貧しく 補償するd him for the 苦痛 he would have 苦しむd in seeing how that beauty was admired.

That all gossip is more or いっそう少なく tinged with exaggeration I have no 疑問, yet when a 指名する is について言及するd in 関係 with such stories, there is usually some truth at the 底（に届く） of them. And a 指名する is について言及するd in this 事例／患者, though I do not think it 価値（がある） my while to repeat it here; and loth as I am to 認める the fact, it is a 指名する that carries with it 疑問s that might easily account for the husband's jealousy. True, I have 設立する no one who dares hint that she still continues to attract attention or to bestow smiles in any direction save where they 合法的に belong. For since a 確かな memorable night which we all know, neither Dr. Zabriskie nor his wife have been seen save in their own 国内の circle, and it is not into such scenes that this serpent, to whom I have just alluded, ever intrudes, nor is it in places of 悲しみ or 苦しむing that his smile 向こうずねs, or his fascinations 繁栄する.

And so one 部分 of my theory is 証明するd to be sound. Dr. Zabriskie is jealous of his wife; whether with good 原因（となる） or bad I am not 用意が出来ている to decide; since her 現在の 態度, clouded as it is by the 悲劇 in which she and her husband are both 伴う／関わるd, must 異なる very much from that which she held when her life was unshadowed by 疑問, and her admirers could be counted by the 得点する／非難する／２０.

I have just 設立する out where Leonard is. As he is in service some miles up the river, I shall have to be absent from my 地位，任命する for several hours, but I consider the game 井戸／弁護士席 価値（がある） the candle.

Light at last. I have not only seen Leonard, but 後継するd in making him talk. His story is 大幅に this: That on the night so often について言及するd, he packed his master's portmanteau at eight o'clock and at ten called a taxi and 棒 with the doctor to the Central 駅／配置する. He was told to buy tickets to Poughkeepsie where his master had been called in 協議, and having done this, hurried 支援する to join Dr. Zabriskie on the 壇・綱領・公約. They had walked together as far as the cars, and Dr. Zabriskie was just stepping on to the train, when a man 押し進めるd himself hurriedly between them and whispered something into his master's ear, which 原因（となる）d him to 落ちる 支援する and lose his 地盤. Dr. Zabriskie's 団体／死体 slid half under the car, but he was 孤立した before any 害（を与える） was done, though the cars gave a lurch at that moment which must have 脅すd him exceedingly, for his 直面する was white when he rose to his feet, and when Leonard 申し込む／申し出d to 補助装置 him again on the train, he 辞退するd to go and said he would return home and not 試みる／企てる to ride to Poughkeepsie that night.

The gentleman, whom Leonard now saw to be Mr. Stanton, an intimate friend of Dr. Zabriskie, smiled very queerly at this, and taking the doctor's arm led him 支援する to his own 自動車. Leonard 自然に followed them, but the doctor, 審理，公聴会 his steps, turned and bade him, in a very peremptory トン, to take the cars home, and then, as if on second thought, told him to go to Poughkeepsie in his stead and explain to the people there that he was too shaken up by his misstep to do his 義務, and that he would be with them next morning. This seemed strange to Leonard, but he had no 推論する／理由s for disobeying his master's orders, and so 棒 to Poughkeepsie. But the doctor did not follow him the next day; on the contrary he telegraphed for him to return, and when he got 支援する 解任するd him with a month's 給料. This ended Leonard's 関係 with the Zabriskie family.

A simple story 耐えるing out what the wife has already told us; but it furnishes a link which may 証明する invaluable. Mr. Stanton, whose first 指名する is Theodore, knows the real 推論する／理由 why Dr. Zabriskie returned home on the night of the seventeenth of July, 19—. Mr. Stanton, その結果, is the man to see, and this shall be my 商売／仕事 tomorrow.

Checkmate! Theodore Stanton is not in this country. Though this points him out as the man from whom Dr. Zabriskie bought the ピストル, it does not 容易にする my work, which is becoming more and more difficult.

Mr. Stanton's どの辺に are not even known to his most intimate friends. He sailed from this country most 突然に on the eighteenth of July a year ago, which was the day after the 殺人 of Mr. Hasbrouck. It looks like a flight, 特に as he has failed to 持続する open communication even with his 親族s. Was he the man who 発射 Mr. Hasbrouck? No; but he was the man who put the ピストル in Dr. Zabriskie's 手渡す that night, and whether he did this with 目的 or not, was evidently so alarmed at the 大災害 which followed that he took the first 去っていく／社交的な steamer to Europe. So far, all is （疑いを）晴らす, but there are mysteries yet to be solved, which will 要求する my 最大の tact. What if I should 捜し出す out the gentleman with whose 指名する that of Mrs. Zabriskie has been linked, and see if I can in any way connect him with Mr. Stanton or the events of that night.

Eureka! I have discovered that Mr. Stanton 心にいだくd a mortal 憎悪 for the gentleman above について言及するd. It was a covert feeling, but no いっそう少なく deadly on that account; and while it never led him into any extravagances, it was of 軍隊 十分な to account for many a secret misfortune occurring to that gentleman. Now if I can 証明する that he is the Mephistopheles who whispered insinuations into the ear of our blind Faust, I may strike a fact that will lead me out of this maze.

But how can I approach secrets so delicate without 妥協ing the woman I feel bound to 尊敬（する）・点 if only for the 充てるd love she manifests for her unhappy husband!

I shall have to 控訴，上告 to Joe Smithers. This is something which I always hate to do, but as long as he will take money, and as long as he is fertile in 資源s for 得るing the truth from people I am myself unable to reach, I must make use of his cupidity and his genius. He is an honourable fellow in one way, and never 小売s as gossip what he acquires for our use. How will he proceed in this 事例／患者, and by what 策略 will he 伸び（る） the very delicate （警察などへの）密告，告訴（状） which we need? I own that I am curious to see.

I shall really have to put 負かす／撃墜する at length the 出来事/事件s of this night. I always knew that Joe Smithers was invaluable not only to myself but to the police, but I really did not know he 所有するd talents of so high an order. He wrote me this morning that he had 後継するd in getting Mr. T—'s 約束 to spend the evening with him, and advised me that if I 願望（する）d to be 現在の 同様に, his own servant would not be at home, and that an opener of 瓶／封じ込めるs would be 要求するd.

As I was very anxious to see Mr. T— with my own 注目する，もくろむs, I 受託するd this 招待 to play the 秘かに調査する, and went at the proper hour to Mr. Smithers's rooms. I 設立する them picturesque in the extreme. Piles of 調書をとる／予約するs stacked here and there to the 天井 made nooks and corners which could be やめる shut off by a couple of old pictures 始める，決める into movable でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れるs 有能な of swinging out or in at the whim or convenience of the owner.

As I had use for the dark 影をつくる／尾行するs cast by these pictures, I pulled them both out, and made such other 手はず／準備 as appeared likely to 容易にする the 目的 I had in 見解（をとる）; then I sat 負かす／撃墜する and waited for the two gentlemen who were 推定する／予想するd to come in together.

They arrived almost すぐに, その結果 I rose and played my part with all necessary discretion. While ridding Mr. T— of his overcoat, I stole a look at his 直面する. It is not a handsome one, but it 誇るs of a gay, devil-may-care 表現 which doubtless makes it dangerous to many women, while his manners are 特に attractive, and his 発言する／表明する the richest and most persuasive that I ever heard. I contrasted him, almost against my will, with Dr. Zabriskie, and decided that with most women the former's undoubted fascinations of speech and 耐えるing would outweigh the latter's 広大な／多数の／重要な beauty and mental endowments; but I 疑問d if they would with her.

The conversation which すぐに began was brilliant but desultory, for Mr. Smithers, with an airy lightness for which he is remarkable, introduced topic after topic, perhaps for the 目的 of showing off Mr. T-'s versatility, and perhaps for the deeper and more 悪意のある 目的 of shaking the kaleidoscope of talk so 完全に, that the real topic which we were met to discuss should not make an undue impression on the mind of his guest.

一方／合間 one, two, three 瓶／封じ込めるs passed, and I had the 楽しみ of seeing Joe Smithers's 注目する，もくろむ grow calmer and that of Mr. T— more brilliant and more uncertain. As the last 瓶／封じ込める was 存在 passed, Joe cast me a meaning ちらりと見ること, and the real 商売／仕事 of the evening began.

I shall not 試みる／企てる to relate the half dozen 失敗s which Joe made in endeavouring to elicit the facts we were in search of, without 誘発するing the 疑惑 of his 訪問者. I am only going to relate the successful 試みる／企てる. They had been talking now for some hours, and I, who had long before been waved aside from their 即座の presence, was hiding my curiosity and growing excitement behind one of the pictures, when I suddenly heard Joe say:

"He has the most remarkable memory I ever met. He can tell to a day when any 著名な event occurred."

"Pshaw!" answered his companion, who, by the way, was known to pride himself upon his own memory for dates, "I can 明言する／公表する where I went and what I did on every day in the year. That may not embrace what you call '著名な events,' but the memory 要求するd is all the more remarkable, is it not?"

"Pooh!" was his friend's 刺激するing reply, "you are bluffing, Ben; I will never believe that."

Mr. T-, who had passed by this time into that 行う／開催する／段階 of intoxication which makes persistence in an 主張 a 義務 同様に as a 楽しみ, threw 支援する his 長，率いる, and as the 花冠s of smoke rose in airy spirals from his lips, 繰り返し言うd his 声明, and 申し込む／申し出d to 服従させる／提出する to any 実験（する） of his vaunted 力／強力にするs which the other might dictate.

"You keep a diary—" began Joe.

"Which at the 現在の moment is at home," 完全にするd the other.

"Will you 許す me to 言及する to it tomorrow, if I am 怪しげな of the 正確 of your recollections?"

"Undoubtedly," returned the other.

"Very 井戸／弁護士席, then, I will wager you a 冷静な／正味の fifty that you cannot tell where you were between the hours of ten and eleven on a 確かな night which I will 指名する."

"Done!" cried the other, bringing out his pocket-調書をとる／予約する and laying it on the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する before him.

Joe followed his example and then 召喚するd me.

"令状 a date 負かす／撃墜する here," he 命令（する）d, 押し進めるing a piece of paper に向かって me, with a look keen as the flash of a blade. "Any date, man," he 追加するd, as I appeared to hesitate in the 当惑 I thought natural under the circumstances. "Put 負かす／撃墜する day, month, and year, only don't go too far 支援する; not さらに先に than two years."

Smiling with the 空気／公表する of a flunkey 認める to the sports of his superiors, I wrote a line and laid it before Mr. Smithers, who at once 押し進めるd it with a careless gesture に向かって his companion. You can of course guess the date I made use of: July 17, 19—. Mr. T—, who had evidently looked upon this 事柄 as mere play, 紅潮／摘発するd scarlet as he read these words, and for one instant looked as if he had rather 飛行機で行く the house than answer Joe Smithers's nonchalant ちらりと見ること of 調査.

"I have given my word and will keep it," he said at last, but with a look in my direction that sent me reluctantly 支援する to my 退却／保養地. "I don't suppose you want 指名するs," he went on; "that is, if anything I have to tell is of a delicate nature?"

"Oh, no," answered the other, "only facts and places."

"I don't think places are necessary either," he returned. "I will tell you what I did and that must serve you. I did not 約束 to give number and street."

"井戸／弁護士席, 井戸／弁護士席," Joe exclaimed; "earn your fifty, that is all. Show that you remember where you were on the night of"—and with an admirable show of 無関心／冷淡 he pretended to 協議する the paper between them—"the seventeenth of July, two years ago, and I shall be 満足させるd."

"I was at the club for one thing," said Mr. T-; "then I went to see a lady friend, where I stayed until eleven. She wore a blue muslin—What is that?"

I had betrayed myself by a quick movement which sent a glass tumbler 衝突，墜落ing to the 床に打ち倒す. Zulma Zabriskie had worn a blue muslin on that same night. You will find it 公式文書，認めるd in the 報告（する）／憶測 given me by the policeman who saw her on their balcony.

"That noise?" It was Joe who was speaking. "You don't know Reuben 同様に as I do or you wouldn't ask. It is his practice, I am sorry to say, to accentuate his 楽しみ in draining my 瓶／封じ込めるs by dropping a glass at every third one."

Mr. T— went on.

"She was a married woman and I thought she loved me; but—and this is the greatest proof I can 申し込む／申し出 you that I am giving you a true account of that night—she had not the slightest idea of the extent of my passion, and only 同意d to see me at all because she thought, poor thing, that a word from her would 始める，決める me straight, and rid her of attentions she evidently failed to 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がる. A sorry 人物／姿／数字 for a fellow like me to 削減（する）; but you caught me on the most detestable date in my calendar and—"

There he 中止するd 存在 利益／興味ing and I anxious. The secret of a 罪，犯罪 for which there seemed to be no reasonable explanation is no longer a mystery to me. I have but to 警告する 行方不明になる Strange—

He had got thus far when a sound in the room behind him led him to look up. A lady had entered; a lady ひどく 隠すd and trembling with what appeared to be an 激しい excitement.

He thought he knew the 人物／姿／数字, but the person, whoever it was, stood so still and remained so silent, he hesitated to 演説（する）／住所 her; which seeing, she 押し進めるd up her 隠す and all 疑問 消えるd.

It was Violet herself. In 無視（する） of her usual practice she had come alone to the office. This meant 緊急 of some 肉親，親類d. Had she too sounded this mystery? No, or her 面 would not have worn this look of 勝利. What had happened then? He made an instant endeavour to find out.

"You have news," he 静かに 発言／述べるd. "Good news, I should 裁判官, by your very cheery smile."

"Yes; I think I have 設立する the way of bringing Dr. Zabriskie to himself."

Astonished beyond 手段, so little did these words 調和させる with the impressions and 結論s at which he had just arrived, something very like 疑問 spoke in his 発言する／表明する as he answered with the simple exclamation:

"You do!"

"Yes. He is obsessed by a 直す／買収する，八百長をするd idea, and must be given an 適切な時期 to 実験（する） the truth of that idea. The shock of finding it a 誤った one may 回復する him to his normal 条件. He believes that he 発射 Mr. Hasbrouck with no other 指導／手引 than his sense of 審理，公聴会. Now if it can be 証明するd that his 審理，公聴会 is an insufficient guide for such an 行為／法令／行動する (as of course it is) the shock of the 発見 may （疑いを）晴らす his brain of its cobwebs. Mrs. Zabriskie thinks so, and the police—"

"What's that? The police?"

"Yes, Dr. Zabriskie would be taken before them again this morning. No entreaties on the part of his wife would 勝つ／広く一帯に広がる; he 主張するd upon his 犯罪 and asked her to …を伴って him there; and the poor woman 設立する herself 軍隊d to go. Of course he 遭遇（する）d again the same 分割 of opinion の中で the men he talked with. Three out of the four 裁判官d him insane, which 観察するing, he betrayed 広大な／多数の／重要な agitation and 繰り返し言うd his former wish to be 許すd an 適切な時期 to 証明する his sanity by showing his 技術 in 狙撃. This made an impression; and a disposition was shown to 認める his request then and there. But Mrs. Zabriskie would not listen to this. She 認可するd of the 実験 but begged that it might be deferred till another day and then take place in some 位置／汚点／見つけ出す remote from the city. For some 推論する／理由 they 注意するd her, and she has just telephoned me that this 試みる／企てる of his is to take place tomorrow in the New Jersey 支持を得ようと努めるd. I am sorry that this should have been put through without you; and when I tell you that the idea 起こる／始まるd with me—that from some word I purposely let 落ちる one day, they both conceived this 計画（する） of ending the 不確定 that was devouring their lives, you will understand my excitement and the need I have of your support. Tell me that I have done 井戸／弁護士席. Do not show me such a 直面する—you 脅す me—"

"I do not wish to 脅す you. I 単に wish to know just who are going on this 探検隊／遠征隊."

"Some members of the police, Dr. Zabriskie, his wife, and—and myself. She begged—"

"You must not go."

"Why? The 事件／事情／状勢 is to be kept secret. The doctor will shoot, fail—Oh!" she suddenly broke in, alarmed by his 表現, "you think he will not fail—"

"I think that you had better 注意する my advice and stay out of it. The 事件／事情／状勢 is now in the 手渡すs of the police, and your place is anywhere but where they are."

"But I go as her particular friend. They have given her the 特権 of taking with her one of her own sex and she has chosen me. I shall not fail her. Father is away, and if the awful 失望 you 示唆する を待つs her, there is all the more 推論する／理由 why she should have some 同情的な support?"

This was so true, that the fresh 抗議する he was about to utter died on his lips. Instead, he 簡単に 発言／述べるd as he 屈服するd her out:

"I 予知する that we shall not work much longer together. You are 近づくing the end of your endurance."

He never forgot the smile she threw 支援する at him.

V

There are some events which impress the human mind so 深く，強烈に that their memory mingles with all after-experiences. Though Violet had made it a 支配する to forget as soon as possible the 悲劇の episodes 出来事/事件 to the strange career upon which she had so mysteriously 乗る，着手するd, there was 運命にあるd to be one scene, if not more, which she has never been able to 解任する at will.

This was the sight which met her 注目する，もくろむs from the 屈服する of the small boat in which Dr. Zabriskie and his wife were 列／漕ぐ／騒動d over to Jersey on the afternoon which saw the end of this most sombre 演劇.

Though it was by no means late in the day, the sun was already 沈むing, and the 有望な red glare which filled the west and shone 十分な upon the 直面するs of the half dozen people before her 追加するd much to the 悲劇の nature of the scene, though she was far from comprehending its 十分な significance.

The doctor sat with his wife in the 厳しい and it was upon their 直面するs Violet's ちらりと見ること was 直す／買収する，八百長をするd. The glare shone luridly on his sightless eyeballs, and as she noticed his unwinking lids, she realized as never before what it was to be blind in the 中央 of 日光. His wife's 注目する，もくろむs, on the contrary, were lowered, but there was a look of hopeless 悲惨 in her colourless 直面する which made her 外見 infinitely pathetic, and Violet felt 確信して that if he could only have seen her, he would not have 持続するd the 冷淡な and unresponsive manner which 冷気／寒がらせるd the words on his poor wife's lips and made all 前進する on her part impossible.

On the seat in 前線 of them sat an 視察官 and from some ４半期/4分の1, かもしれない from under the 視察官's coat, there （機の）カム the monotonous ticking of the small clock, which was to serve as a 的 for the blind man's 目的（とする）.

This ticking was all Violet heard, though the river was alive with traffic and large and small boats were steaming by them on every 味方する. And I am sure it was all that Mrs. Zabriskie heard also, as with 手渡す 圧力（をかける）d to her heart, and 注目する，もくろむs 直す／買収する，八百長をするd on the opposite shore, she waited for the event which was to 決定する whether the man she loved was a 犯罪の or only a 存在 afflicted of God and worthy of her unceasing care and devotion.

As the sun cast its last scarlet gleam over the water, the boat grounded, and Violet was enabled to have one passing word with Mrs. Zabriskie. She hardly knew what she said but the look she received in return was like that of a 脅すd child.

But there was always to be seen in Mrs. Zabriskie's countenance this characteristic blending of the 厳しい and the childlike, and beyond an 追加するd pang of pity for this beautiful but afflicted woman, Violet let the moment pass without giving it the 負わせる it perhaps 需要・要求するd.

"The doctor and his wife had a long talk last night," was whispered in her ear as she 負傷させる her way with the 残り／休憩（する） into the heart of the 支持を得ようと努めるd. With a start she turned and perceived her 雇用者 に引き続いて の近くに behind her. He had come by another boat.

"But it did not seem to 傷をいやす／和解させる whatever 違反 lies between them," he proceeded. Then, in a quick, anxious トン, he whispered: "Whatever happens, do not 解除する your 隠す. I thought I saw a reporter skulking in the 後部."

"I will be careful," Violet 保証するd him, and could say no more, as they had already reached the ground which had been selected for this 裁判，公判 at 武器, and the さまざまな members of the party were 存在 placed in their several positions.

The doctor, to whom light and 不明瞭 were alike, stood with his 直面する に向かって the western glow, and at his 味方する were grouped the 視察官 and the two 内科医s. On the arm of one of the latter hung Dr. Zabriskie's overcoat, which he had taken off as soon as he reached the field.

Mrs. Zabriskie stood at the other end of the 開始 近づく a tall stump, upon which it had been decided that the clock should be placed when the moment （機の）カム for the doctor to show his 技術. She had been （許可，名誉などを）与えるd the 特権 of setting the clock on this stump, and Violet saw it 向こうずねing in her 手渡す as she paused for a moment to ちらりと見ること 支援する at the circle of gentlemen who were を待つing her movements. The 手渡すs of the clock stood at five minutes to five, though Violet scarcely 公式文書，認めるd it at the time, for Mrs. Zabriskie was passing her and had stopped to say:

"If he is not himself, he cannot be 信用d. Watch him carefully and see that he does no mischief to himself or others. Ask one of the 視察官s to stand at his 権利 手渡す, and stop him if he does not 扱う his ピストル 適切に."

Violet 約束d, and she passed on, setting the clock upon the stump and すぐに 製図／抽選 支援する to a suitable distance at the 権利, where she stood, wrapped in her long dark cloak. Her 直面する shone 恐ろしい white, even in its 環境 of snow-covered boughs, and 公式文書，認めるing this, Violet wished the minutes より小数の between the 現在の moment and the hour of five, at which time he was to draw the 誘発する／引き起こす.

"Dr. Zabriskie," quoth the 視察官, "we have endeavoured to make this 裁判，公判 a perfectly fair one. You are to have a 発射 at a small clock which has been placed within a suitable distance, and which you are 推定する／予想するd to 攻撃する，衝突する, guided only by the sound which it will make in striking the hour of five. Are you 満足させるd with the 協定?"

"Perfectly. Where is my wife?"

"On the other 味方する of the field some ten paces from the stump upon which the clock is 直す／買収する，八百長をするd." He 屈服するd, and his 直面する showed satisfaction.

"May I 推定する／予想する the clock to strike soon?"

"In いっそう少なく than five minutes," was the answer.

"Then let me have the ピストル; I wish to become 熟知させるd with its size and 負わせる."

We ちらりと見ることd at each other, then across at her.

She made a gesture; it was one of acquiescence.

すぐに the 視察官 placed the 武器 in the blind man's 手渡す. It was at once 明らかな that he understood the 器具, and Violet's hopes which had been strong up to this moment, sank at his 空気／公表する of 信用／信任.

"Thank God I am blind this hour and cannot see her," fell from his lips, then, before the echo of these words had died away, he raised his 発言する／表明する and 観察するd calmly enough, considering that he was about to 証明する himself a 犯罪の ーするために save himself from 存在 thought a madman:

"Let no one move. I must have my ears 解放する／自由な for catching the first 一打／打撃 of the clock." And he raised the ピストル before him.

There was a moment of 拷問ing suspense and 深い, 無傷の silence. Violet's 注目する，もくろむs were on him so she did not watch the clock, but she was suddenly moved by some irresistible impulse to 公式文書，認める how Mrs. Zabriskie was 耐えるing herself at this 批判的な moment, and casting a hurried ちらりと見ること in her direction she perceived her tall 人物／姿／数字 swaying from 味方する to 味方する, as if under an intolerable 緊張する of feeling. Her 注目する，もくろむs were on the clock, the 手渡すs of which seemed to creep with snail-like pace along the dial, when 突然に, and a 十分な minute before the minute 手渡す had reached the 一打／打撃 of five, Violet caught a movement on her part, saw the flash of something 一連の会議、交渉／完成する and white show for an instant against the 不明瞭 of her cloak, and was about to shriek 警告 to the doctor, when the shrill, quick 一打／打撃 of a clock rang out on the frosty 空気／公表する, followed by the ping and flash of a ピストル.

A sound of 粉々にするd glass, followed by a 抑えるd cry, told the bystanders that the 弾丸 had struck the 示す, but before any one could move, or they could rid their 注目する，もくろむs of the smoke which the 勝利，勝つd had blown into their 直面するs, there （機の）カム another sound which made their hair stand on end and sent the 血 支援する in terror to their hearts. Another clock was striking, which they now perceived was still standing upright on the stump where Mrs. Zabriskie had placed it.

Whence （機の）カム the clock, then, which had struck before the time and been 粉々にするd for its 苦痛s? One quick look told them. On the ground, ten paces to the 権利, lay Zulma Zabriskie, a broken clock at her 味方する, and in her breast a 弾丸 which was 急速な／放蕩な sapping the life from her 甘い 注目する，もくろむs.

They had to tell him, there was such pleading in her looks; and never will any of the hearers forget the 叫び声をあげる which rang from his lips as he realized the truth. Breaking from their 中央, he 急ぐd 今後, and fell at her feet as if guided by some supernatural instinct.

"Zulma," he shrieked, "what is this? Were not my 手渡すs dyed 深い enough in 血 that you should make me 責任のある for your life also?"

Her 注目する，もくろむs were の近くにd but she opened them. Looking long and 刻々と at his agonized 直面する, she 滞るd 前へ／外へ:

"It is not you who have killed me; it is your 罪，犯罪. Had you been innocent of Mr. Hasbrouck's death your 弾丸 would never have 設立する my heart. Did you think I could 生き残る the proof that you had killed that good man?"

"I did it unwittingly. I—"

"Hush!" she 命令（する）d, with an awful look, which happily he could not see. "I had another 動機. I wished to 証明する to you, even at the cost of my life, that I loved you, had always loved you, and not—"

It was now his turn to silence her. His 手渡す crept to her lips, and his despairing 直面する turned itself blindly に向かって those about them.

"Go!" he cried; "leave us! Let me take a last 別れの（言葉，会） of my dying wife, without listeners or 観客s."

協議するing the 注目する，もくろむ of her 雇用者 who stood の近くに beside her, and seeing no hope in it, Violet fell slowly 支援する. The others, followed, and the doctor was left alone with his wife. From the distant position they took, they saw her 武器 creep 一連の会議、交渉／完成する his neck, saw her 長，率いる 落ちる confidingly on his breast, then silence settled upon them, and upon all nature, the 集会 twilight 深くするing, till the last glow disappeared from the heavens above and from the circle of leafless trees which enclosed this 悲劇 from the outside world.

But at last there （機の）カム a 動かす, and Dr. Zabriskie, rising up before them with the dead 団体／死体 of his wife held closely to his breast, 直面するd them with a countenance so rapturous that he looked like a man transfigured.

"I will carry her to the boat," said he. "Not another 手渡す shall touch her. She was my true wife, my true wife!" And he towered into an 態度 of such dignity and passion that for a moment he took on heroic 割合s and they forgot that he had just 証明するd himself to have committed a 冷淡な-血d and 恐ろしい 罪，犯罪.

The 星／主役にするs were 向こうずねing when the party again took their seats in the boat; and if the scene of their crossing to Jersey was impressive, what shall be said of the return?

The doctor, as before, sat in the 厳しい, an awesome 人物／姿／数字, upon which the moon shone with a white radiance that seemed to 解除する his 直面する out of the surrounding 不明瞭 and 始める，決める it like an image of frozen horror before their 注目する，もくろむs. Against his breast he held the form of his dead wife, and now and then Violet saw him stoop as if he were listening for some 記念品 of life from her 始める，決める lips. Then he would 解除する himself again with hopelessness stamped upon his features, only to lean 今後 in 新たにするd hope that was again 運命にあるd to 失望.

Violet had been so 打ち勝つ by this 悲劇の end to all her hopes, that her 雇用者 had been 許すd to enter the boat with her. Seated at her 味方する in the seat 直接／まっすぐに in 前線 of the doctor, he watched with her these simple 記念品s of a breaking heart, 説 nothing till they reached midstream, when true to his instincts for all his awe and compassion, he suddenly bent に向かって him and said:

"Dr. Zabriskie, the mystery of your 罪，犯罪 is no longer a mystery to me. Listen and see if I do not understand your 誘惑, and how you, a conscientious and God-恐れるing man, （機の）カム to 殺す your innocent 隣人.

"A friend of yours, or so he called himself, had for a long time filled your ears with tales tending to make you 怪しげな of your wife and jealous of a 確かな man whom I will not 指名する. You knew that your friend had a grudge against this man, and so for many months turned a deaf ear to his insinuations. But finally some change which you （悪事，秘密などを）発見するd in your wife's 耐えるing or conversation roused your own 疑惑s, and you began to 疑問 her truth and to 悪口を言う／悪態 your blindness, which in a 手段 （判決などを）下すd you helpless. The jealous fever grew and had risen to a high point when one night—a memorable night—this friend met you just as you were leaving town, and with cruel （手先の）技術 whispered in your ear that the man you hated was even then with your wife and that if you would return at once to your home you would find him in her company.

"The demon that lurks at the heart of all men, good or bad, thereupon took 完全にする 所有／入手 of you, and you answered this 誤った friend by 説 that you would not return without a ピストル. その結果 he 申し込む／申し出d to take you to his house and give you his. You 同意d, and getting rid of your servant by sending him to Poughkeepsie with your excuses, you entered your friend's automobile.

"You say you bought the ピストル, and perhaps you did, but, however that may be, you left his house with it in your pocket, and 拒絶する／低下するing companionship, walked home, arriving at the Colonnade a little before midnight.

"Ordinarily you have no difficulty in 認めるing your own doorstep. But, 存在 in a heated でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れる of mind, you walked faster than usual and so passed your own house and stopped at that of Mr. Hasbrouck, one door beyond. As the 入り口s of these houses are all alike, there was but one way by which you could have made yourself sure that you had reached your own dwelling, and that was by feeling for the doctor's 調印する at the 味方する of the door. But you never thought of that. 吸収するd in dreams of vengeance, your 単独の impulse was to enter by the quickest means possible. Taking out your night 重要な, you thrust it into the lock. It fitted, but it took strength to turn it, so much strength that the 重要な was 新たな展開d and bent by the 成果／努力. But this 出来事/事件, which would have attracted your attention at another time, was lost upon you at this moment. An 入り口 had been 影響d, and you were in too excited a でっちあげる，人を罪に陥れる of mind to notice at what cost, or to （悪事，秘密などを）発見する the small differences 明らかな in the atmosphere and furnishings of the two houses, trifles which would have 逮捕（する）d your attention under other circumstances, and made you pause before the upper 床に打ち倒す had been reached.

"It was while going up the stairs that you took out your ピストル, so that by the time you arrived at the 前線 room door you held it already drawn and cocked in your 手渡す. For, 存在 blind, you 恐れるd escape on the part of your 犠牲者, and so waited for nothing but the sound of a man's 発言する／表明する before 解雇する／砲火／射撃ing. When, therefore, the unfortunate Mr. Hasbrouck, roused by this sudden 侵入占拠, 前進するd with an exclamation of astonishment, you pulled the 誘発する／引き起こす, and killed him on the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す. It must have been すぐに upon his 落ちる that you 認めるd from some word he uttered, or from some 接触する you may have had with your surroundings, that you were in the wrong house and had killed the wrong man; for you cried out, in evident 悔恨, 'God! what have I done!' and fled without approaching your 犠牲者.

"Descending the stairs, you 急ぐd from the house, の近くにing the 前線 door behind you and 回復するing your own without 存在 seen. But here you 設立する yourself baffled in your 試みる／企てるd escape, by two things. First, by the ピストル you still held in your 手渡す, and secondly, by the fact that the 重要な upon which you depended for entering your own door was so 新たな展開d out of 形態／調整 that you knew it would be useless for you to 試みる／企てる to use it. What did you do in this 緊急? You have already told us, though the story seemed so improbable at the time, you 設立する nobody to believe it but myself. The ピストル you flung far away from you 負かす／撃墜する the pavement, from which, by one of those rare chances which いつかs happen in this world, it was presently 選ぶd up by some late passer-by of more or いっそう少なく doubtful character. The door 申し込む／申し出d いっそう少なく of an 障害 than you had 心配するd; for when you turned again you 設立する it, if I am not 大いに mistaken, ajar, left so, as we have 推論する／理由 to believe, by one who had gone out of it but a few minutes before in a 明言する／公表する which left him but little master of his 活動／戦闘s. It was this fact which 供給するd you with an answer when you were asked how you 後継するd in getting into Mr. Hasbrouck's house after the family had retired for the night.

"Astonished at the coincidence, but あられ／賞賛するing with gladness the deliverance which it 申し込む／申し出d, you went in and 上がるd at once into your wife's presence; and it was from her lips, and not from those of Mrs. Hasbrouck, that the cry arose which startled the neighbourhood and 用意が出来ている men's minds for the 悲劇の words which were shouted a moment later from the next house.

"But she who uttered the 叫び声をあげる knew of no 悲劇 save that which was taking place in her own breast. She had just 撃退するd a dastardly suitor, and seeing you enter so 突然に in a 明言する／公表する of unaccountable horror and agitation, was 自然に stricken with 狼狽, and thought she saw your ghost, or what was worse, a possible avenger; while you, having failed to kill the man you sought, and having killed a man you esteemed, let no surprise on her part 誘惑する you into any dangerous self-betrayal. You strove instead to soothe her, and even 試みる／企てるd to explain the excitement under which you 労働d, by an account of your 狭くする escape at the 駅／配置する, till the sudden alarm from next door distracted her attention, and sent both your thoughts and hers in a different direction. Not till 良心 had fully awakened and the horror of your 行為／法令／行動する had had time to tell upon your 極度の慎重さを要する nature, did you breathe 前へ／外へ those vague 自白s, which, not 存在 supported by the only explanations which would have made them 信頼できる, led her, 同様に as the police, to consider you 影響する／感情d in your mind. Your pride as a man and your consideration for her as a woman kept you silent, but did not keep the worm from preying upon your heart.

"Am I not 訂正する in my surmises, Dr. Zabriskie, and is not this the true explanation of your 罪，犯罪?"

With a strange look, he 解除するd up his 直面する.

"Hush!" said he; "you will waken her. See how 平和的に she sleeps! I should not like to have her wakened now, she is so tired, and I—I have not watched over her as I should."

Appalled at his gesture, his look, his トン, Violet drew 支援する, and for a few minutes no sound was to be heard but the 安定した 下落する-下落する of the oars and the （競技場の）トラック一周-（競技場の）トラック一周 of the waters against the boat. Then there （機の）カム a quick 反乱, the swaying before her of something dark and tall and 脅すing, and before she could speak or move, or even stretch 前へ／外へ her 手渡すs to stay him, the seat before her was empty and 不明瞭 had filled the place where but an instant previous he had sat, a fearsome 人物／姿／数字, 築く and rigid as a sphinx.

What little moonlight there was, only served to show a few rising 泡s, 場内取引員／株価 the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す where the unfortunate man had sunk with his much-loved 重荷（を負わせる）. As the 広げるing circles fled さらに先に and さらに先に out, the tide drifted the boat away, and the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す was lost which had seen the termination of one of earth's saddest 悲劇s.

End Of Problem VII

Problem VIII
行方不明の: Page Thirteen

"One more! just one more 井戸／弁護士席 支払う／賃金ing 事件／事情／状勢, and I 約束 to stop; really and truly to stop."

"But, Puss, why one more? You have earned the 量 you 始める，決める for yourself,—or very nearly,—and though my help is not 広大な／多数の／重要な, in three months I can 追加する enough—"

"No, you cannot, Arthur. You are doing 井戸／弁護士席; I 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がる it; in fact, I am just delighted to have you work for me in the way you do, but you cannot, in your 現在の position, make enough in three months, or in six, to 会合，会う the 状況／情勢 as I see it. Enough does not 満足させる me. The 手段 must be 十分な, heaped up, and running over. Possible 失敗 に引き続いて 約束 must be 供給するd for. Never must I feel myself called upon to do this 肉親，親類d of thing again. Besides, I have never got over the Zabriskie 悲劇. It haunts me continually. Something new may help to put it out of my 長，率いる. I feel 有罪の. I was responsible—"

"No, Puss. I will not have it that you were responsible. Some such end was bound to follow a 複雑化 like that. Sooner or later he would have been driven to shoot himself—"

"But not her."

"No, not her. But do you think she would have given those few minutes of perfect understanding with her blind husband for a few years more of 哀れな life?"

Violet made no answer; she was too 吸収するd in her surprise. Was this Arthur? Had a few weeks' work and a の近くに 関係 with the really serious things of life made this change in him? Her 直面する beamed at the thought, which seeing, but not understanding what underlay this 証拠 of joy, he bent and kissed her, 説 with some of his old nonchalance:

"Forget it, Violet; only don't let any one or anything lead you to 利益／興味 yourself in another 事件／事情／状勢 of the 肉親，親類d. If you do, I shall have to 協議する a 確かな friend of yours as to the best way of stopping this folly. I について言及する no 指名するs. Oh! you need not look so 脅すd. Only behave; that's all."

"He's 権利," she 定評のある to herself, as he sauntered away; "altogether 権利."

Yet because she 手配中の，お尋ね者 the extra money—

The scene 招待するd alarm,—that is, for so young a girl as Violet, 調査するing it from an automobile some time after the 一打／打撃 of midnight. An unknown house at the end of a ひどく shaded walk, in the open doorway of which could be seen the silhouette of a woman's form leaning 熱望して 今後 with 武器 outstretched in an 控訴，上告 for help! It 消えるd while she looked, but the 影響 remained, 持つ／拘留するing her to her seat for one startled moment. This seemed strange, for she had 心配するd adventure. One is not 召喚するd from a 私的な ball to ride a dozen miles into the country on an errand of 調査, without some 期待 of 遭遇（する）ing the mysterious and the 悲劇の. But Violet Strange, for all her many experiences, was of a most susceptible nature, and for the instant in which that door stood open, with only the memory of that expectant 人物／姿／数字 to 乱す the faintly lit vista of the hall beyond, she felt that 支配する upon the throat which comes from an indefinable 恐れる which no words can explain and no 急落する sound.

But this soon passed. With the setting of her foot to ground, 条件s changed and her emotions took on a more normal character. The 人物／姿／数字 of a man now stood in the place held by the 消えるd woman; and it was not only that of one she knew but that of one whom she 信用d—a friend whose very presence gave her courage. With this 承認 （機の）カム a better understanding of the 状況／情勢, and it was with a beaming 注目する，もくろむ and unclouded features that she tripped up the walk to 会合，会う the expectant 人物／姿／数字 and outstretched 手渡す of Roger Upjohn.

"You here!" she exclaimed, まっただ中に smiles and blushes, as he drew her into the hall.

He at once 開始する，打ち上げるd 前へ／外へ into explanations mingled with 陳謝s for the presumption he had shown in putting her to this inconvenience. There was trouble in the house—広大な／多数の／重要な trouble. Something had occurred for which an explanation must be 設立する before morning, or the happiness and honour of more than one person now under this unhappy roof would be 難破させるd. He knew it was late—that she had been 強いるd to take a long and dreary ride alone, but her success with the problem which had once come 近づく 難破させるing his own life had emboldened him to telephone to the office and—"But you are in ball-dress," he cried in amazement. "Did you think—"

"I （機の）カム from a ball. Word reached me between the dances. I did not go home. I had been bidden to hurry."

He looked his 評価, but when he spoke it was to say:

"This is the 状況／情勢. 行方不明になる Digby—"

"The lady who is to be married tomorrow?"

"Who hopes to be married tomorrow."

"How, hopes?"

"Who will be married tomorrow, if a 確かな article lost in this house tonight can be 設立する before any of the persons who have been dining here leave for their homes."

Violet uttered an exclamation.

"Then, Mr. Cornell," she began—

"Mr. Cornell has our 最大の 信用／信任," Roger 急いでd to interpose. "But the article 行方不明の is one which he might reasonably 願望（する） to 所有する and which he alone of all 現在の had the 適切な時期 of 安全な・保証するing. You can therefore see why he, with his pride—the pride of a man not rich, engaged to marry a woman who is—should 宣言する that unless his innocence is 設立するd before daybreak, the doors of St. Bartholomew will remain shut to-morrow."

"But the article lost—what is it?"

"行方不明になる Digby will give you the particulars. She is waiting to receive you," he 追加するd with a gesture に向かって a half-open door at their 権利.

Violet ちらりと見ることd that way, then cast her looks up and 負かす／撃墜する the hall in which they stood.

"Do you know that you have not told me in whose house I am? Not hers, I know. She lives in the city."

"And you are twelve miles from Harlem. 行方不明になる Strange, you are in the 先頭 Broecklyn mansion, famous enough you will 認める. Have you never been here before?"

"I have been by here, but I 認めるd nothing in the dark. What an exciting place for an 調査!"

"And Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn? Have you never met him?"

"Once, when a child. He 脅すd me then."

"And may 脅す you now; though I 疑問 it. Time has mellowed him. Besides, I have 用意が出来ている him for what might さもなければ occasion him some astonishment. 自然に he would not look for just the sort of lady 捜査官／調査官 I am about to introduce to him."

She smiled. Violet Strange was a very charming young woman, 同様に as a keen prober of 半端物 mysteries.

The 会合 between herself and 行方不明になる Digby was a 同情的な one. After the first 必然的な shock which the latter felt at sight of the beauty and 流行の／上流の 外見 of the mysterious little 存在 who was to solve her difficulties, her ちらりと見ること, which, under other circumstances, might have ぐずぐず残るd unduly upon the piquant features and exquisite dressing of the fairy-like 人物／姿／数字 before her, passed at once to Violet's 注目する，もくろむs, in whose 安定した depths beamed an 知能 やめる at 半端物s with the coquettish dimples which so often misled the casual 観察者／傍聴者 in his estimation of a character singularly subtle and 井戸／弁護士席-均衡を保った.

As for the impression she herself made upon Violet, it was the same she made upon everyone. No one could look long at Florence Digby and not 認める the loftiness of her spirit and the generous nature of her impulses. In person she was tall and as she leaned to take Violet's 手渡す, the difference between them brought out the salient points in each, to the 広大な／多数の／重要な 賞賛 of the one onlooker.

合間, for all her 利益／興味 in the 事例／患者 in 手渡す, Violet could not help casting a hurried look about her, in gratification of the curiosity 刺激するd by her 入り口 into a house signalized from its 創立／基礎 by such a 一連の 悲劇の events. The result was disappointing. The 塀で囲むs were plain, the furniture simple. Nothing suggestive in either, unless it was the fact that nothing was new, nothing modern. As it looked in the days of Burr and Hamilton so it looked to-day, even to the rather startling 詳細（に述べる） of candles which did 義務 on every 味方する in place of gas.

As Violet 解任するd the 推論する／理由 for this, the fascination of the past 掴むd upon her imagination. There was no knowing where this might have carried her, had not the feverish gleam in 行方不明になる Digby's 注目する，もくろむs 警告するd her that the 現在の held its own excitement. 即時に, she was all attention and listening with 分割されない mind to that lady's 公表，暴露s.

They were 簡潔な／要約する and to the に引き続いて 影響:

The dinner which had brought some half-dozen people together in this house had been given in 祝賀 of her 差し迫った marriage. But it was also in a way meant as a compliment to one of the other guests, a Mr. Spielhagen, who, during the week, had 後継するd in 論証するing to a few 専門家s the value of a 発見 he had made which would transform a 広大な／多数の／重要な 産業.

In speaking of this 発見, 行方不明になる Digby did not go into particulars, the whole 事柄 存在 far beyond her understanding; but in 明言する／公表するing its value she 率直に 定評のある that it was in the line of Mr. Cornell's own work, and one which 伴う／関わるd 計算／見積りs and a 決まり文句／製法 which, if 未熟に 公表する／暴露するd, would 無効にする the 契約 Mr. Spielhagen hoped to make, and thus destroy his 現在の hopes.

Of this 決まり文句／製法 but two copies 存在するd. One was locked up in a 安全な deposit 丸天井 in Boston, the other he had brought into the house on his person, and it was the latter which was now 行方不明の, having been abstracted during the evening from a manuscript of sixteen or more sheets, under circumstances which she would now endeavour to relate.

Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn, their host, had in his melancholy life but one 利益／興味 which could be at all 吸収するing. This was for 爆発性のs. As consequence, much of the talk at the dinner-（米）棚上げする／（英）提議する had been on Mr. Spielhagen's 発見, and possible changes it might introduce into this especial 産業. As these, worked out from a 決まり文句／製法 kept secret from the 貿易（する）, could not but 影響する／感情 大いに Mr. Cornell's 利益／興味s, she 設立する herself listening intently, when Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn, with an 陳謝 for his 干渉，妨害, 投機・賭けるd to 発言／述べる that if Mr. Spielhagen had made a 価値のある 発見 in this line, so had he, and one which he had 立証するd by many 実験s. It was not a marketable one, such as Mr. Spielhagen's was, but in his work upon the same, and in the 実験（する）s which he had been led to make, he had discovered 確かな instances he would 喜んで 指名する, which 需要・要求するd exceptional 手続き to be successful. If Mr. Spielhagen's method did not 許す for these exceptions, nor make suitable 準備／条項 for them, then Mr. Spielhagen's method would fail more times than it would 後継する. Did it so 許す and so 供給する? It would relieve him 大いに to learn that it did.

The answer （機の）カム quickly. Yes, it did. But later and after some その上の conversation, Mr. Spielhagen's 信用／信任 seemed to 病弱な, and before they left the dinner-（米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, he 率直に 宣言するd his 意向 of looking over his manuscript again that very night, ーするために be sure that the 決まり文句／製法 therein 含む／封じ込めるd duly covered all the exceptions について言及するd by Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn.

If Mr. Cornell's countenance showed any change at this moment, she for one had not noticed it; but the bitterness with which he 発言／述べるd upon the other's good fortune in having discovered this 決まり文句／製法 of whose entire success he had no 疑問, was 明らかな to everybody, and 自然に gave point to the circumstances which a short time afterward associated him with the 見えなくなる of the same.

The ladies (there were two others besides herself) having 孤立した in a 団体／死体 to the music-room, the gentlemen all proceeded to the library to smoke. Here, conversation loosed from the one topic which had hitherto engrossed it, was 訴訟／進行 briskly, when Mr. Spielhagen, with nervous gesture, impulsively looked about him and said:

"I cannot 残り／休憩（する） till I have run through my 論題／論文 again. Where can I find a 静かな 位置／汚点／見つけ出す? I won't be long; I read very 速く."

It was for Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn to answer, but no word coming from him, every 注目する，もくろむ turned his way, only to find him sunk in one of those fits of abstraction so 井戸／弁護士席 known to his friends, and from which no one who has this strange man's peace of mind at heart ever 推定するs to rouse him.

What was to be done? These moods of their singular host いつかs lasted half an hour, and Mr. Spielhagen had not the 外見 of a man of patience. Indeed he presently gave proof of the 広大な／多数の／重要な uneasiness he was 労働ing under, for noticing a door standing ajar on the other 味方する of the room, he 発言／述べるd to those around him:

"A den! and lighted! Do you see any 反対 to my shutting myself in there for a few minutes?"

No one 投機・賭けるing to reply, he rose, and giving a slight 押し進める to the door, 公表する／暴露するd a small room exquisitely panelled and brightly lighted, but without one article of furniture in it, not even a 議長，司会を務める.

"The very place," quoth Mr. Spielhagen, and 解除するing a light 茎-底（に届く）d 議長，司会を務める from the many standing about, he carried it inside and shut the door behind him.

Several minutes passed during which the man who had served at （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する entered with a tray on which were several small glasses evidently 含む／封じ込めるing some choice liqueur. Finding his master 直す／買収する，八百長をするd in one of his strange moods, he 始める，決める the tray 負かす／撃墜する and, pointing to one of the glasses, said:

"That is for Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn. It 含む／封じ込めるs his usual 静かなing 砕く." And 勧めるing the gentlemen to help themselves, he 静かに left the room. Mr. Upjohn 解除するd the glass nearest him, and Mr. Cornell seemed about to do the same when he suddenly reached 今後 and catching up one さらに先に off started for the room in which Mr. Spielhagen had so deliberately secluded himself.

Why he did all this—why, above all things, he should reach across the tray for a glass instead of taking the one under his 手渡す, he can no more explain than why he has followed many another unhappy impulse. Nor did he understand the nervous start given by Mr. Spielhagen at his 入り口, or the 星／主役にする with which that gentleman took the glass from his 手渡す and mechanically drank its contents, till he saw how his 手渡す had stretched itself across the sheet of paper he was reading, in an open 試みる／企てる to hide the lines 明白な between his fingers. Then indeed the 侵入者 紅潮／摘発するd and withdrew in 広大な／多数の／重要な 当惑, fully conscious of his indiscretion but not 深く，強烈に 乱すd till Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn, suddenly 誘発するing and ちらりと見ることing 負かす／撃墜する at the tray placed very 近づく his 手渡す 発言／述べるd in some surprise: "Dobbs seems to have forgotten me." Then indeed, the unfortunate Mr. Cornell realized what he had done. It was the glass ーするつもりであるd for his host which he had caught up and carried into the other room—the glass which he had been told 含む／封じ込めるd a 麻薬. Of what folly he had been 有罪の, and how tame would be any 成果／努力 at excuse!

試みる／企てるing 非，不，無, he rose and with a hurried ちらりと見ること at Mr. Upjohn who 紅潮／摘発するd in sympathy at his 苦しめる, he crossed to the door he had lately の近くにd upon Mr. Spielhagen. But feeling his shoulder touched as his 手渡す 圧力（をかける）d the knob, he turned to 会合，会う the 注目する，もくろむ of Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn 直す／買収する，八百長をするd upon him with an 表現 which utterly confounded him.

"Where are you going?" that gentleman asked.

The 尋問 トン, the 厳しい look, expressive at once of displeasure and astonishment, were most disconcerting, but Mr. Cornell managed to stammer 前へ／外へ:

"Mr. Spielhagen is in here 協議するing his 論題／論文. When your man brought in the cordial, I was ぎこちない enough to catch up your glass and carry it in to. Mr. Spielhagen. He drank it and I—I am anxious to see if it did him any 害（を与える）."

As he uttered the last word he felt Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn's 手渡す slip from his shoulder, but no word …を伴ってd the 活動／戦闘, nor did his host make the least move to follow him into the room.

This was a 事柄 of 広大な／多数の／重要な 悔いる to him later, as it left him for a moment out of the 範囲 of every 注目する，もくろむ, during which he says he 簡単に stood in a 明言する／公表する of shock at seeing Mr. Spielhagen still sitting there, manuscript in 手渡す, but with 長，率いる fallen 今後 and 注目する，もくろむs の近くにd; dead, asleep or—he hardly knew what; the sight so paralysed him.

Whether or not this was the exact truth and the whole truth, Mr. Cornell certainly looked very unlike himself as he stepped 支援する into Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn's presence; and he was only 部分的に／不公平に 安心させるd when that gentleman 抗議するd that there was no real 害（を与える） in the 麻薬, and that Mr. Spielhagen would be all 権利 if left to wake 自然に and without shock. However, as his 現在の 態度 was one of 広大な／多数の／重要な 不快, they decided to carry him 支援する and lay him on the library lounge. But before doing this, Mr. Upjohn drew from his flaccid しっかり掴む, the precious manuscript, and carrying it into the larger room placed it on a remote （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, where it remained undisturbed till Mr. Spielhagen, suddenly coming to himself at the end of some fifteen minutes, 行方不明になるd the sheets from his 手渡す, and bounding up, crossed the room to repossess himself of them.

His 直面する, as he 解除するd them up and 速く ran through them with ever-蓄積するing 苦悩, told them what they had to 推定する／予想する.

The page 含む／封じ込めるing the 決まり文句／製法 was gone!

Violet now saw her problem.

II

There was no 疑問 about the loss I have について言及するd; all could see that page 13 was not there. In vain a second 扱うing of every sheet, the one so numbered was not to be 設立する. Page 14 met the 注目する，もくろむ on the 最高の，を越す of the pile, and page 12 finished it off at the 底（に届く）, but no page 13 in between, or anywhere else.

Where had it 消えるd, and through whose 機関 had this misadventure occurred? No one could say, or, at least, no one there made any 試みる／企てる to do so, though everybody started to look for it.

But where look? The 隣接するing small room 申し込む／申し出d no 施設s for hiding a cigar-end, much いっそう少なく a square of 向こうずねing white paper. 明らかにする 塀で囲むs, a 明らかにする 床に打ち倒す, and a 選び出す／独身 議長，司会を務める for furniture, 構成するd all that was to be seen in this direction. Nor could the room in which they then stood be thought to 持つ／拘留する it, unless it was on the person of some one of them. Could this be the explanation of the mystery? No man looked his 疑問s; but Mr. Cornell, かもしれない divining the general feeling, stepped up to Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn and in a 冷静な／正味の 発言する／表明する, but with the red 燃やすing hotly on either cheek, said, so as to be heard by everyone 現在の:

"I 需要・要求する to be searched—at once and 完全に."

A moment's silence, then the ありふれた cry:

"We will all be searched."

"Is Mr. Spielhagen sure that the 行方不明の page was with the others when he sat 負かす／撃墜する in the 隣接するing room to read his 論題／論文?" asked their perturbed host.

"Very sure," （機の）カム the emphatic reply. "Indeed, I was just going through the 決まり文句／製法 itself when I fell asleep."

"You are ready to 主張する this?"

"I am ready to 断言する it."

Mr. Cornell repeated his request.

"I 需要・要求する that you make a 徹底的な search of my person. I must be （疑いを）晴らすd, and 即時に, of every 疑惑," he 厳粛に 主張するd, "or how can I marry 行方不明になる Digby to-morrow."

After that there was no その上の hesitation. One and all 支配するd themselves to the ordeal 示唆するd; even Mr. Spielhagen. But this 成果／努力 was as futile as the 残り／休憩（する）. The lost page was not 設立する.

What were they to think? What were they to do?

There seemed to be nothing left to do, and yet some その上の 試みる／企てる must be made に向かって the 回復 of this important 決まり文句／製法. Mr. Cornell's marriage and Mr. Spielhagen's 商売／仕事 success both depended upon its 存在 in the latter's 手渡すs before six in the morning, when he was engaged to 手渡す it over to a 確かな 製造業者 sailing for Europe on an 早期に steamer.

Five hours!

Had Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn a suggestion to 申し込む／申し出? No, he was as much at sea as the 残り／休憩（する）.

同時に look crossed look. Blankness was on every 直面する.

"Let us call the ladies," 示唆するd one.

It was done, and however 広大な／多数の／重要な the 緊張 had been before, it was even greater when 行方不明になる Digby stepped upon the scene. But she was not a woman to be shaken from her 宙に浮く even by a 危機 of this importance. When the 窮地 had been 現在のd to her and the 十分な 状況／情勢 しっかり掴むd, she looked first at Mr. Cornell and then at Mr. Spielhagen, and 静かに said:

"There is but one explanation possible of this 事柄. Mr. Spielhagen will excuse me, but he is evidently mistaken in thinking that he saw the lost page の中で the 残り／休憩（する）. The 条件 into which he was thrown by the unaccustomed 麻薬 he had drank, made him liable to hallucinations. I have not the least 疑問 he thought he had been 熟考する／考慮するing the 決まり文句／製法 at the time he dropped off to sleep. I have every 信用／信任 in the gentleman's candour. But so have I in that of Mr. Cornell," she 補足（する）d, with a smile.

An exclamation from Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn and a subdued murmur from all but Mr. Spielhagen 証言するd to the 影響 of this suggestion, and there is no 説 what might have been the result if Mr. Cornell had not hurriedly put in this 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の and most 予期しない 抗議する:

"行方不明になる Digby has my 感謝," said he, "for a 信用／信任 which I hope to 証明する to be deserved. But I must say this for Mr. Spielhagen. He was 訂正する in 明言する／公表するing that he was engaged in looking over his 決まり文句／製法 when I stepped into his presence with the glass of cordial. If you were not in a position to see the hurried way in which his 手渡す instinctively spread itself over the page he was reading, I was; and if that does not seem conclusive to you, then I feel bound to 明言する／公表する that in unconsciously に引き続いて this movement of his, I plainly saw the number written on the 最高の，を越す of the page, and that number was—13."

A loud exclamation, this time from Spielhagen himself, 発表するd his 感謝 and corresponding change of 態度 toward the （衆議院の）議長.

"Wherever that damned page has gone," he 抗議するd, 前進するing に向かって Cornell with outstretched 手渡す, "you have nothing to do with its 見えなくなる."

即時に all 強制 fled, and every countenance took on a relieved 表現. But the problem remained.

Suddenly those very words passed some one's lips, and with their utterance Mr. Upjohn remembered how at an 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 危機 in his own life he had been helped and an 平等に difficult problem settled, by a little lady 内密に 大（公）使館員d to a 私立探偵事務所. If she could only be 設立する and hurried here before morning, all might yet be 井戸／弁護士席. He would make the 成果／努力. Such wild 計画／陰謀s いつかs work. He telephoned to the office and—

Was there anything else 行方不明になる Strange would like to know?

III

行方不明になる Strange, thus 控訴，上告d to, asked where the gentlemen were now.

She was told that they were still all together in the library; the ladies had been sent home.

"Then let us go to them," said Violet, hiding under a smile her 広大な／多数の／重要な 恐れる that here was an 事件／事情／状勢 which might very easily （一定の）期間 for her that dismal word, 失敗.

So 広大な／多数の／重要な was that 恐れる that under all ordinary circumstances she would have had no thought for anything else in the short 暫定的な between this 明言する／公表するing of the problem and her 迅速な 入り口 の中で the persons 伴う／関わるd. But the circumstances of this 事例／患者 were so far from ordinary, or rather let me put it in this way, the setting of the 事例／患者 was so very 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の, that she scarcely thought of the problem before her, in her 広大な／多数の／重要な 利益／興味 in the house through whose rambling halls she was 存在 so carefully guided. So much that was 悲劇の and heartrending had occurred here. The 先頭 Broecklyn 指名する, the 先頭 Broecklyn history, above all the 先頭 Broecklyn tradition, which made the house unique in the country's annals (of which more hereafter), all made an 控訴，上告 to her imagination, and centred her thoughts on what she saw about her. There was a door which no man ever opened—had never opened since 革命の times—should she see it? Should she know it if she did see it? Then Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn himself! just to 会合，会う him, under any 条件s and in any place, was an event. But to 会合，会う him here, under the 棺／かげり of his own mystery! No wonder she had no words for her companions, or that her thoughts clung to this 予期 in wonder and almost fearsome delight.

His story was a 井戸／弁護士席-known one. A bachelor and a misanthrope, he lived 絶対 alone save for a large 側近 of servants, all men and 年輩の ones at that. He never visited. Though he now and then, as on this occasion, entertained 確かな persons under his roof, he 拒絶する／低下するd every 招待 for himself, 避けるing even, with equal strictness, all evening amusements of whatever 肉親，親類d, which would 拘留する him in the city after ten at night. Perhaps this was to 確実にする no break in his 支配する of life never to sleep out of his own bed. Though he was a man 井戸／弁護士席 over fifty he had not spent, によれば his own 声明, but two nights out of his own bed since his return from Europe in 早期に boyhood, and those were in obedience to a judicial 召喚するs which took him to Boston.

This was his main eccentricity, but he had another which is 明らかな enough from what has already been said. He 避けるd women. If thrown in with them during his short visits into town, he was invariably polite and at times companionable, but he never sought them out, nor had gossip, contrary to its usual habit, ever linked his 指名する with one of the sex.

Yet he was a man of more than ordinary attraction. His features were 罰金 and his 人物／姿／数字 impressive. He might have been the cynosure of all 注目する，もくろむs had he chosen to enter （人が）群がるd 製図／抽選-rooms, or even to たびたび（訪れる） public assemblages, but having turned his 支援する upon everything of the 肉親，親類d in his 青年, he had 設立する it impossible to alter his habits with 前進するing years; nor was he now 推定する／予想するd to. The position he had taken was 尊敬（する）・点d. Leonard 先頭 Broecklyn was no longer 非難するd.

Was there any explanation for this strangely self-centred life? Those who knew him best seemed to think so. In the first place he had sprung from an unfortunate 在庫／株. Events of unusual and 悲劇の nature had 示すd the family of both parents. Nor had his parents themselves been 免除された from this seeming fatality. Antagonistic in tastes and temperament, they had dragged on an unhappy 存在 in the old home, till both natures rebelled, and a 分離 続いて起こるd which not only disunited their lives but sent them to opposite 味方するs of the globe never to return again. At least, that was the inference drawn from the peculiar circumstances …に出席するing the event. On the morning of one never-to-be-forgotten day, John 先頭 Broecklyn, the grandfather of the 現在の 代表者／国会議員 of the family, 設立する the に引き続いて 公式文書，認める from his son lying on the library （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する:

"FATHER:

"Life in this house, or any house, with her is no longer endurable. One of us must go. The mother should not be separated from her child. Therefore it is I whom you will never see again. Forget me, but be considerate of her and the boy.

"WILLIAM."

Six hours later another 公式文書，認める was 設立する, this time from the wife:

"FATHER:

"Tied to a rotting 死体 what does one do? Lop off one's arm if necessary to rid one of the 接触する. As all love between your son and myself is dead, I can no longer live within the sound of his 発言する／表明する. As this is his home, he is the one to remain in it. May our child 得る the 利益 of his mother's loss and his father's affection.

"RHODA."

Both were gone, and gone forever. 同時の in their 出発, they 保存するd each his own silence and sent no word 支援する. If the one went east and the other west, they may have met on the other 味方する of the globe, but never again in the home which 避難所d their boy. For him and for his grandfather they had sunk from sight in the 広大な／多数の／重要な sea of humanity, leaving them 立ち往生させるd on an 孤立するd and mournful shore. The grand-father steeled himself to the 二塁打 loss, for the child's sake; but the boy of eleven succumbed. Few of the world's 広大な／多数の／重要な 苦しんでいる人s, of whatever age or 条件, have 嘆く／悼むd as this child 嘆く／悼むd, or shown the 影響s of his grief so 深く，強烈に or so long. Not till he had passed his 大多数 did the line, carved in one day in his baby forehead, lose any of its intensity; and there are those who 宣言する that even later than that, the midnight stillness of the house was 乱すd from time to time by his muffled shriek of "Mother! Mother!", sending the servants from the house, and 追加するing one more horror to the many which clung about this accursed mansion.

Of this cry Violet had heard, and it was that and the door—But I have already told you about the door which she was still looking for, when her two companions suddenly 停止（させる）d, and she 設立する herself on the threshold of the library, in 十分な 見解（をとる） of Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn and his two guests.

Slight and fairy-like in 人物／姿／数字, with an 空気／公表する of modest reserve more in keeping with her 青年 and dainty dimpling beauty than with her errand, her 外見 produced an astonishment 非，不，無 of which the gentlemen were able to disguise. This the clever 探偵，刑事, with a genius for social problems and 半端物 elusive 事例／患者s! This darling of the ball-room in satin and pearls! Mr. Spielhagen ちらりと見ることd at Mr. Cornell, and Mr. Cornell at Mr. Spielhagen, and both at Mr. Upjohn, in very evident 不信. As for Violet, she had 注目する，もくろむs only for Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn who stood before her in a surprise equal to that of the others but with more 抑制 in its 表現.

She was not disappointed in him. She had 推定する／予想するd to see a man, reserved almost to the point of 緊縮. And she 設立する his first look even more awe-説得力のある than her imagination had pictured; so much so indeed, that her 決意／決議 滞るd, and she took a quick step backward; which seeing, he smiled and her heart and hopes grew warm again. That he could smile, and smile with 絶対の sweetness, was her 広大な／多数の／重要な 慰安 when later—But I am introducing you too hurriedly to the 大災害. There is much to be told first.

I pass over the 予選s, and come at once to the moment when Violet, having listened to a repetition of the 十分な facts, stood with downcast 注目する，もくろむs before these gentlemen, complaining in some alarm to herself: "They 推定する／予想する me to tell them now and without その上の search or 交渉，会談 just where this 行方不明の page is. I shall have to 妨げる that 期待 without losing their 信用／信任. But how?"

召喚するing up her courage and 会合 each 問い合わせing 注目する，もくろむ with a look which seemed to carry a different message to each, she 発言／述べるd very 静かに:

"This is not a 事柄 to guess at. I must have time and I must look a little deeper into the facts just given me. I 推定する that the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する I see over there is the one upon which Mr. Upjohn laid the manuscript during Mr. Spielhagen's unconsciousness."

All nodded.

"Is it—I mean the （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する—in the same 条件 it was then? Has nothing been taken from it except the manuscript?"

"Nothing."

"Then the 行方不明の page is not there," she smiled, pointing to its 明らかにする 最高の，を越す. A pause, during which she stood with her gaze 直す／買収する，八百長をするd on the 床に打ち倒す before her. She was thinking and thinking hard.

Suddenly she （機の）カム to a 決定／判定勝ち（する）. 演説（する）／住所ing Mr. Upjohn she asked if he were やめる sure that in taking the manuscript from Mr. Spielhagen's 手渡す he had neither disarranged nor dropped one of its pages.

The answer was 明白な.

"Then," she 宣言するd, with 静かな 保証／確信 and a 安定した 会合 with her own of every 注目する，もくろむ, "as the thirteenth page was not 設立する の中で the others when they were taken from this （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する, nor on the persons of either Mr. Cornell or Mr. Spielhagen, it is still in that inner room."

"Impossible!" （機の）カム from every lip, each in a different トン. "That room is 絶対 empty."

"May I have a look at its emptiness?" she asked, with a naive ちらりと見ること at Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn.

"There is 前向きに／確かに nothing in the room but the 議長，司会を務める Mr. Spielhagen sat on," 反対するd that gentleman with a noticeable 空気／公表する of 不本意.

"Still, may I not have a look at it?" she 固執するd, with that 武装解除するing smile she kept for 広大な／多数の／重要な occasions.

Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn 屈服するd. He could not 辞退する a request so 勧めるd, but his step was slow and his manner next to ungracious as he led the way to the door of the 隣接するing room and threw it open.

Just what she had been told to 推定する／予想する! 明らかにする 塀で囲むs and 床に打ち倒すs and an empty 議長，司会を務める! Yet she did not 即時に 身を引く, but stood silently 熟視する／熟考するing the panelled wainscoting surrounding her, as though she 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑うd it of 含む／封じ込めるing some secret hiding-place not 明らかな to the 注目する，もくろむ.

Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn, 公式文書，認めるing this, 急いでd to say:

"The 塀で囲むs are sound, 行方不明になる Strange. They 含む／封じ込める no hidden cupboards."

"And that door?" she asked, pointing to a 部分 of the wainscoting so 正確に／まさに like the 残り／休憩（する） that only the most experienced 注目する，もくろむ could （悪事，秘密などを）発見する the line of deeper colour which 示すd an 開始.

For an instant Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn stood rigid, then the immovable pallor, which was one of his 長，指導者 特徴, gave way to a 深い 紅潮／摘発する as he explained:

"There was a door there once; but it has been 永久的に の近くにd. With 固く結び付ける," he 軍隊d himself to 追加する, his countenance losing its evanescent colour till it shone 恐ろしい again in the strong light.

With difficulty Violet 保存するd her show of composure. "The door!" she murmured to herself. "I have 設立する it. The 広大な／多数の／重要な historic door!" But her トン was light as she 投機・賭けるd to say:

"Then it can no longer be opened by your 手渡す or any other?"

"It could not be opened with an axe."

Violet sighed in the 中央 of her 勝利. Her curiosity had been 満足させるd, but the problem she had been 始める，決める to solve looked inexplicable. But she was not one to 産する／生じる easily to discouragement. 場内取引員／株価 the 失望 approaching to disdain in every 注目する，もくろむ but Mr. Upjohn's, she drew herself up—(she had not far to draw) and made this final 提案.

"A sheet of paper," she 発言／述べるd, "of the size of this one cannot be spirited away, or 解散させるd into thin 空気／公表する. It 存在するs; it is here; and all we want is some happy thought ーするために find it. I 認める that that happy thought has not come to me yet, but いつかs I get it in what may seem to you a very 半端物 way. Forgetting myself, I try to assume the individuality of the person who has worked the mystery. If I can think with his thoughts, I かもしれない may follow him in his 活動／戦闘s. In this 事例／患者 I should like to make believe for a few moments that I am Mr. Spielhagen" (with what a delicious smile she said this) "I should like to 持つ／拘留する his 論題／論文 in my 手渡す and be interrupted in my reading by Mr. Cornell 申し込む／申し出ing his glass of cordial; then I should like to nod and slip off mentally into a 深い sleep. かもしれない in that sleep the dream may come which will 明らかにする the whole 状況／情勢. Will you humour me so far?"

A ridiculous 譲歩, but finally she had her way; the farce was 制定するd and they left her as she had requested them to do, alone with her dreams in the small room.

Suddenly they heard her cry out, and in another moment she appeared before them, the picture of excitement.

"Is this 議長，司会を務める standing 正確に／まさに as it did when Mr. Spielhagen 占領するd it?" she asked.

"No," said Mr. Upjohn, "it 直面するd the other way."

She stepped 支援する and twirled the 議長，司会を務める about with her 解放する／撤去させるd 手渡す.

"So?"

Mr. Upjohn and Mr. Spielhagen both nodded, so did the others when she ちらりと見ることd at them.

With a 調印する of ill-隠すd satisfaction, she drew their attention to herself; then 熱望して cried:

"Gentlemen, look here!"

Seating herself, she 許すd her whole 団体／死体 to relax till she 現在のd the picture of one calmly asleep. Then, as they continued to gaze at with fascinated 注目する，もくろむs, not knowing what to 推定する／予想する, they saw something white escape from her （競技場の）トラック一周 and slide across the 床に打ち倒す till it touched and was stayed by the wainscot. It was the 最高の，を越す page of the manuscript she held, and as some inkling of the truth reached their astonished minds, she sprang impetuously to her feet and, pointing to the fallen sheet, cried:

"Do you understand now? Look where it lies and then look here!"

She had bounded に向かって the 塀で囲む and was now on her 膝s pointing to the 底（に届く） of the wainscot, just a few インチs to the left of the fallen page.

"A 割れ目!" she cried, "under what was once the door. It's a very thin one, hardly perceptible to the 注目する，もくろむ. But see!" Here she laid her finger on the fallen paper and 製図／抽選 it に向かって her, 押し進めるd it carefully against the lower 辛勝する／優位 of the wainscot. Half of it at once disappeared.

"I could easily slip it all through," she 保証するd them, 身を引くing the sheet and leaping to her feet in 勝利. "You know now where the 行方不明の page lies, Mr. Spielhagen. All that remains is for Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn to get it for you."

IV

The cries of mingled astonishment and 救済 which 迎える／歓迎するd this simple elucidation of the mystery were broken by a curiously choked, almost unintelligible, cry. It （機の）カム from the man thus 控訴，上告d to, who, unnoticed by them all, had started at her first word and 徐々に, as 活動／戦闘 followed 活動／戦闘, 孤立した himself till he now stood alone and in an 態度 almost of 反抗 behind the large （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する in the centre of the library.

"I am sorry," he began, with a brusqueness which 徐々に トンd 負かす／撃墜する into a 軍隊d urbanity as he beheld every 注目する，もくろむ 直す／買収する，八百長をするd upon him in amazement, "that circumstances forbid my 存在 of 援助 to you in this unfortunate 事柄. If the paper lies where you say, and I see no other explanation of its loss, I am afraid it will have to remain there for this night at least. The 固く結び付ける in which that door is embedded is 厚い as any 塀で囲む; it would take men with pickaxes, かもしれない with dynamite, to make a 違反 there wide enough for any one to reach in. And we are far from any such help."

In the 中央 of the びっくり仰天 原因（となる）d by these words, the clock on the mantel behind his 支援する rang out the hour. It was but a 二塁打 一打／打撃, but that meant two hours after midnight and had the 影響 of a knell in the hearts of those most 利益／興味d.

"But I am 推定する／予想するd to give that 決まり文句／製法 into the 手渡すs of our 経営者／支配人 before six o'clock in the morning. The steamer sails at a ４半期/4分の1 after."

"Can't you 再生する a copy of it from memory?" some one asked; "and 挿入する it in its proper place の中で the pages you 持つ／拘留する there?"

"The paper would not be the same. That would lead to questions and the truth would come out. As the 長，指導者 value of the 過程 含む／封じ込めるd in that 決まり文句／製法 lies in its secrecy, no explanation I could give would relieve me from the 疑惑s which an acknowledgment of the 存在 of a third copy, however 井戸／弁護士席 hidden, would entail. I should lose my 広大な／多数の／重要な 適切な時期."

Mr. Cornell's 明言する／公表する of mind can be imagined. In an 接近 of mingled 悔いる and despair, he cast a ちらりと見ること at Violet, who, with a nod of understanding, left the little room in which they still stood, and approached Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn.

解除するing up her 長，率いる,—for he was very tall,—and instinctively rising on her toes the nearer to reach his ear, she asked in a 用心深い whisper:

"Is there no other way of reaching that place?"

She 定評のある afterwards, that for one moment her heart stood still from 恐れる, such a change took place in his 直面する, though she says he did not move a muscle. Then, just when she was 推定する／予想するing from him some 厳しい or forbidding word, he wheeled 突然の away from her and crossing to a window at his 味方する, 解除するd the shade and looked out. When he returned, he was his usual self so far as she could see.

"There is a way," he now confided to her in a トン as low as her own, "but it can only be taken by a child."

"Not by me?" she asked, smiling 負かす／撃墜する at her own childish 割合s.

For an instant he seemed taken aback, then she saw his 手渡す begin to tremble and his lips twitch. Somehow—she knew not why—she began to pity him, and asked herself as she felt rather than saw the struggle in his mind, that here was a trouble which if once understood would 大いに dwarf that of the two men in the room behind them.

"I am 控えめの," she whisperingly 宣言するd. "I have heard the history of that door—how it was against the tradition of the family to have it opened. There must have been some very dreadful 推論する／理由. But old superstitions do not 影響する／感情 me, and if you will 許す me to take the way you について言及する, I will follow your bidding 正確に／まさに, and will not trouble myself about anything but the 回復 of this paper, which must 嘘（をつく） only a little way inside that 封鎖するd-up door."

Was his look one of rebuke at her presumption, or just the constrained 表現 of a perturbed mind? Probably, the latter, for while she watched him for some understanding of his mood, he reached out his 手渡す and touched one of the satin 倍のs crossing her shoulder.

"You would 国／地域 this irretrievably," said he.

"There is stuff in the 蓄える／店s for another," she smiled. Slowly his touch 深くするd into 圧力. Watching him she saw the crust of some old 恐れる or 支配的な superstition melt under her 注目する，もくろむs, and was やめる 用意が出来ている, when he 発言／述べるd, with what for him was a lightsome 空気／公表する:

"I will buy the stuff, if you will dare the 不明瞭 and intricacies of our old cellar. I can give you no light. You will have to feel your way によれば my direction."

"I am ready to dare anything."

He left her 突然の.

"I will 警告する 行方不明になる Digby," he called 支援する. "She shall go with you as far as the cellar."

V

Violet in her short career as an 捜査官／調査官 of mysteries had been in many a 状況／情勢 calling for more than womanly 神経 and courage. But never—or so it seemed to her at the time—had she experienced a greater 不景気 of spirit than when she stood with 行方不明になる Digby before a small door at the extreme end of the cellar, and understood that here was her road—a road which once entered, she must take alone.

First, it was such a small door! No child older than eleven could かもしれない squeeze through it. But she was of the size of a child of eleven and might かもしれない manage that difficulty.

Secondly: there are always some unforeseen 可能性s in every 状況／情勢, and though she had listened carefully to Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn's directions and was sure that she knew them by heart, she wished she had kissed her father more tenderly in leaving him that night for the ball, and that she had not pouted so undutifully at some 厳しい stricture he had made. Did this mean 恐れる? She despised the feeling if it did.

Thirdly: She hated 不明瞭. She knew this when she 申し込む／申し出d herself for this 請け負うing; but she was in a 有望な room at the moment and only imagined what she must now 直面する as a reality. But one jet had been lit in the cellar and that 近づく the 入り口. Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn seemed not to need light, even in his unfastening of the small door which Violet was sure had been 保護するd by more than one lock.

疑問, 影をつくる／尾行する, and a 独房監禁 climb between unknown 塀で囲むs, with only a streak of light for her goal, and the 粘着するing 圧力 of Florence Digby's 手渡す on her own for solace—surely the prospect was one to 税金 the courage of her young heart to its 限界. But she had 約束d, and she would 実行する. So with a 勇敢に立ち向かう smile she stooped to the little door, and in another moment had started her 旅行.

For 旅行 the shortest distance may seem when every インチ means a heart-throb and one grows old in 横断するing a foot. At first the way was 平易な; she had but to はう up a slight incline with the 慰安ing consciousness that two people were within reach of her 発言する／表明する, almost within sound of her （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域ing heart. But presently she （機の）カム to a turn, beyond which her fingers failed to reach any 塀で囲む on her left. Then （機の）カム a step up which she つまずくd, and さらに先に on a short flight, each tread of which she had been told to 実験（する） before she 投機・賭けるd to climb it, lest the decay of innumerable years should have 弱めるd the 支持を得ようと努めるd too much to 耐える her 負わせる. One, two, three, four, five steps! Then a 上陸 with an open space beyond. Half of her 旅行 was done. Here she felt she could give a minute to 製図／抽選 her breath 自然に, if the 空気／公表する, 不変の in years, would 許す her to do so. Besides, here she had been enjoined to do a 確かな thing and to do it によれば 指示／教授／教育s. Three matches had been given her and a little night candle. 否定するd all light up to now, it was at this point she was to light her candle and place it on the 床に打ち倒す, so that in returning she should not 行方不明になる the staircase and get a 落ちる. She had 約束d to do this, and was only too happy to see a 誘発する of light scintillate into life in the immeasurable 不明瞭.

She was now in a 広大な／多数の／重要な room long の近くにd to the world, where once officers in 植民地の wars had feasted, and more than one 会議 had been held. A room, too, which had seen more than one 悲劇の happening, as its almost unparalleled 孤立／分離 布告するd. So much Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn had told her; but she was 警告するd to be careful in 横断するing it and not upon any pretext to swerve aside from the 権利-手渡す 塀で囲む till she （機の）カム to a 抱擁する mantelpiece. This passed, and a sharp corner turned, she せねばならない see somewhere in the 薄暗い spaces before her a streak of vivid light 向こうずねing through the 割れ目 at the 底（に届く） of the 封鎖するd-up door. The paper should be somewhere 近づく this streak.

All simple, all 平易な of 業績／成就, if only that streak of light were all she was likely to see or think of. If the horror which was gripping her throat should not take 形態／調整! If things would remain shrouded in impenetrable 不明瞭, and not 軍隊 themselves in shadowy suggestion upon her excited fancy! But the blackness of the passage-way through which she had just struggled was not to be 設立する here. Whether it was the 影響 of that small 炎上 flickering at the 最高の，を越す of the staircase behind her, or of some change in her own 力／強力にするs of seeing, surely there was a difference in her 現在の 見通し. Tall 形態／調整s were becoming 明白な—the 空気／公表する was no longer blank—she could see—Then suddenly she saw why. In the 塀で囲む high up on her 権利 was a window. It was small and all but invisible, 存在 covered on the outside with vines, and on the inside with the cobwebs of a century. But some small gleams from the 星／主役にする-light night （機の）カム through, making phantasms out of ordinary things, which unseen were horrible enough, and half seen choked her heart with terror.

"I cannot 耐える it," she whispered to herself even while creeping 今後, her 手渡す upon the 塀で囲む. "I will の近くに my 注目する，もくろむs" was her next thought. "I will make my own 不明瞭," and with a spasmodic 軍隊ing of her lids together, she continued to creep on, passing the mantelpiece, where she knocked against something which fell with an awful clatter.

This sound, followed as it was by that of smothered 発言する／表明するs from the excited group を待つing the result of her 実験 from behind the impenetrable 塀で囲む she should be 近づくing now if she had followed her 指示／教授／教育s aright, 解放する／自由なd her 即時に from her fancies; and 開始 her 注目する，もくろむs once more, she cast a look ahead, and to her delight, saw but a few steps away, the thin streak of 有望な light which 示すd the end of her 旅行.

It took her but a moment after that to find the 行方不明の page, and 選ぶing it up in haste from the dusty 床に打ち倒す, she turned herself quickly about and joyfully began to retrace her steps. Why then, was it that in the course of a few minutes more her 発言する／表明する suddenly broke into a wild, unearthly shriek, which （犯罪の）一味ing with terror burst the bounds of that dungeon-like room, and sank, a barbed 軸, into the breasts of those を待つing the result of her doubtful adventure, at either end of this dread no-thoroughfare.

What had happened?

If they had thought to look out, they would have seen that the moon—held in check by a bank of cloud 占領するing half the heavens—had suddenly burst its bounds and was sending long 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業s of 明らかにする／漏らすing light into every uncurtained window.

VI

Florence Digby, in her short and 避難所d life, had かもしれない never known any very 広大な／多数の／重要な or 深い emotion. But she touched the 底（に届く） of extreme terror at that moment, as with her ears still thrilling with Violet's piercing cry, she turned to look at Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn, and beheld the instantaneous 難破させる it had made of this seemingly strong man. Not till he （機の）カム to 嘘（をつく） in his 棺 would he show a more 恐ろしい countenance; and trembling herself almost to the point of 落ちるing, caught him by the arm and sought to read his 直面する what had happened. Something 悲惨な she was sure; something which he had 恐れるd and was 部分的に／不公平に 用意が出来ている for, yet which in happening had 鎮圧するd him. Was it a 落し穴 into which the poor little lady had fallen? If so—But he is speaking—mumbling low words to himself. Some of them she can hear. He is reproaching himself—repeating over and over that he should never have taken such a chance; that he should have remembered her 青年—the 証拠不十分 of a young girl's 神経. He had been mad, and now—and now—

With the repetition of this word his murmuring 中止するd. All his energies were now 吸収するd in listening at the low door separating him from what he was agonizing to know—a door impossible to enter, impossible to 大きくする—a 障壁 to all help—an 開始 whereby sound might pass but nothing else, save her own small 団体／死体, now lying—where?

"Is she 傷つける?" 滞るd Florence, stooping, herself, to listen. "Can you hear anything—anything?"

For an instant he did not answer; every faculty was 吸収するd in the one sense; then slowly and in gasps he began to mutter:

"I think—I hear—something. Her step—no, no, no step. All is as 静かな as death; not a sound, not a breath—she has fainted. O God! O God! Why this calamity on 最高の，を越す of all!"

He had sprung to his feet at the utterance this invocation, but next moment was 負かす／撃墜する on 膝s again, listening—listening.

Never was silence more 深遠な; they were hearkening for murmurs from a tomb. Florence began to sense the 十分な horror of it all, and was swaying helplessly when Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn impulsively 解除するd his 手渡す in an admonitory Hush! and through the daze of her faculties a small far sound began to make itself heard, growing louder as she waited, then becoming faint again, then altogether 中止するing only to 新たにする itself once more, till it 解決するd into an approaching step, 滞るing in its course, but coming ever nearer and nearer.

"She's 安全な! She's not 傷つける!" sprang from Florence's lips in inexpressible 救済; and 推定する／予想するing Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn to show an equal joy, she turned に向かって him, with the cheerful cry,

"Now if she has been so fortunate as to that 行方不明の page, we shall all be repaid for our fright."

A movement on his part, a 転換ing of position which brought him finally to his feet, but he gave no other proof of having heard her, nor did his countenance mirror her 救済. "It is as if he dreaded, instead of あられ／賞賛するd, her return," was Florence's inward comment as she watched him involuntarily recoil at each fresh 記念品 of Violet's 前進する.

Yet because this seemed so very unnatural, she 固執するd in her 成果／努力s to lighten the 状況／情勢, and when he made no 試みる／企てる to encourage Violet in her approach, she herself stooped and called out a cheerful welcome which must have rung sweetly in the poor little 探偵，刑事's ears.

A sorry sight was Violet, when, helped by Florence, she finally はうd into 見解（をとる） through the 狭くする 開始 and stood once again on the cellar 床に打ち倒す. Pale, trembling, and 国／地域d with the dust of years, she 現在のd a helpless 人物／姿／数字 enough, till the joy in Florence's 直面する 解任するd some of her spirit, and, ちらりと見ることing 負かす／撃墜する at her 手渡す in which a sheet of paper was 明白な, she asked for Mr. Spielhagen.

"I've got the 決まり文句／製法," she said. "If you will bring him, I will 手渡す it over to him here."

Not a word of her adventure; nor so much as one ちらりと見ること at Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn, standing far 支援する in the 影をつくる／尾行するs.

Nor was she more communicative, when, the 決まり文句／製法 回復するd and everything made 権利 with Mr. Spielhagen, they all （機の）カム together again in the library for a final word. "I was 脅すd by the silence and the 不明瞭, and so cried out," she explained in answer to their questions. "Any one would have done so who 設立する himself alone in so musty a place," she 追加するd, with an 試みる／企てる at lightsomeness which 深くするd the pallor on Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn's cheek, already 十分に noticeable to have been 発言／述べるd upon by more than one.

"No ghosts?" laughed Mr. Cornell, too happy in the return of his hopes to be fully sensible of the feelings of those about him. "No whispers from impalpable lips or touches from spectre 手渡すs? Nothing to explain the mystery of that room long shut up that even Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn 宣言するs himself ignorant of its secret?"

"Nothing," returned Violet, showing her dimples in 十分な 軍隊 now.

"If 行方不明になる Strange had any such experiences—if she has anything to tell worthy of so 示すd a curiosity, she will tell it now," （機の）カム from the gentleman just alluded to, in トンs so 厳しい and strange that all show of frivolity 中止するd on the instant. "Have you anything to tell, 行方不明になる Strange?"

大いに startled, she regarded him with 広げるing 注目する，もくろむs for a moment, then with a move に向かって the door, 発言／述べるd, with a general look about her:

"Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn knows his own house, and doubtless can relate its histories if he will. I am a busy little 団体／死体 who having finished my work am now ready to return home, there to wait for the next problem which an indulgent 運命／宿命 may 申し込む／申し出 me."

She was 近づく the threshold—she was about to take her leave, when suddenly she felt two 手渡すs 落ちる on her shoulder, and turning, met the 注目する，もくろむs of Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn 燃やすing into her own.

"You saw!" dropped in an almost inaudible whisper from his lips.

The shiver which shook her answered him better than any word.

With an exclamation of despair, he withdrew his 手渡すs, and 直面するing the others now standing together in a startled group, he said, as soon as he could 回復する some of his self-所有／入手:

"I must ask for another hour of your company. I can no longer keep my 悲しみ to myself. A dividing line has just been drawn across my life, and I must have the sympathy of someone who knows my past, or I shall go mad in my self-課すd 孤独. Come 支援する, 行方不明になる Strange. You of all others have the 事前の 権利 to hear."

VII

"I shall have to begin," said he, when they were all seated and ready to listen, "by giving you some idea, not so much of the family tradition, as of the 影響 of this tradition upon all who bore the 指名する of 先頭 Broecklyn. This is not the only house, even in America, which 含む／封じ込めるs a room shut away from 侵入占拠. In England there are many. But there is this difference between most of them and ours. No 妨げる／法廷，弁護士業s or locks 強制的に held shut the door we were forbidden to open. The 命令（する） was enough; that and the superstitious 恐れる which such a 命令（する）, …に出席するd by a long and unquestioning obedience, was likely to engender.

"I know no more than you do why some 早期に ancestor laid his 禁止（する） upon this room. But from my earliest years I was given to understand that there was one latch in the house which was never to be 解除するd; that any fault would be forgiven sooner than that; that the honour of the whole family stood in the way of disobedience, and that I was to 保存する that honour to my dying day. You will say that all this is fantastic, and wonder that sane people in these modern times should 支配する themselves to such a ridiculous 制限, 特に when no good 推論する／理由 was 申し立てられた／疑わしい, and the very source of the tradition from which it sprung forgotten. You are 権利; but if you look long into human nature, you will see that the 社債s which 持つ／拘留する the firmest are not 構成要素 ones—that an idea will make a man and mould a character—that it lies at the source of all heroisms and is to be 法廷，裁判所d or 恐れるd as the 事例／患者 may be.

"For me it 所有するd a 力／強力にする proportionate to my loneliness. I don't think there was ever a more lonely child. My father and mother were so unhappy in each other's companionship that one or other of them was almost always away. But I saw little of either even when they were at home. The 強制 in their 態度 に向かって each other 影響する／感情d their 行為／行う に向かって me. I have asked myself more than once if either of them had any real affection for me. To my father I spoke of her; to her of him; and never pleasurably. This I am 軍隊d to say, or you cannot understand my story. Would to God I could tell another tale! Would to God I had such memories as other men have of a father's clasp, a mother's kiss—but no! my grief, already 深遠な, might have become abysmal. Perhaps it is best as it is; only, I might have been a different child, and made for myself a different 運命／宿命—who knows.

"As it was, I was thrown almost 完全に upon my own 資源s for any amusement. This led me to a 発見 I made one day. In a far part of the cellar behind some 激しい 樽s, I 設立する a little door. It was so low—so 正確に／まさに fitted to my small 団体／死体, that I had the greatest 願望（する） to enter it. But I could not get around the 樽s. At last an expedient occurred to me. We had an old servant who （機の）カム nearer loving me than any one else. One day when I chanced to be alone in the cellar, I took out my ball and began throwing it about. Finally it landed behind the 樽s, and I ran with a beseeching cry to Michael, to move them.

"It was a 仕事 要求するing no little strength and 演説（する）／住所, but he managed, after a few herculean 成果／努力s, to 転換 them aside and I saw with delight, my way opened to that mysterious little door. But I did not approach it then; some instinct deterred me. But when the 適切な時期 （機の）カム for me to 投機・賭ける there alone, I did so, in the most adventurous spirit, and began my 操作／手術s by 事情に応じて変わる behind the 樽s and 実験（する）ing the 扱う of the little door. It turned, and after a pull or two the door 産する／生じるd. With my heart in my mouth, I stooped and peered in. I could see nothing—a 黒人／ボイコット 穴を開ける and nothing more. This 原因（となる）d me a moment's hesitation. I was afraid of the dark—had always been. But curiosity and the spirit of adventure 勝利d. 説 to myself that I was Robinson Crusoe 調査するing the 洞穴, I はうd in, only to find that I had 伸び（る）d nothing. It was as dark inside as it had looked to be from without.

"There was no fun in this, so I はうd 支援する, and when I tried the 実験 again, it was with a bit of candle in my 手渡す, and a surreptitious match or two. What I saw, when with a very trembling little 手渡す I had lighted one of the matches, would have been disappointing to most boys, but not to me. The litter and old boards I saw in 半端物 corners about me were 十分な of 可能性s, while in the dimness beyond I seemed to perceive a sort of staircase which might lead—I do not think I made any 試みる／企てる to answer that question even in my own mind, but when, after some hesitation and a sense of 広大な／多数の／重要な daring, I finally crept up those steps, I remember very 井戸／弁護士席 my sensation at finding myself in 前線 of a 狭くする の近くにd door. It 示唆するd too vividly the one in Grandfather's little room—the door in the wainscot which we were never to open. I had my first real trembling fit here, and at once fascinated and repelled by this obstruction I つまずくd and lost my candle, which, going out in the 落ちる, left me in total 不明瞭 and a very 脅すd 明言する／公表する of mind. For my imagination which had been 大いに stirred by my own vague thoughts of the forbidden room, すぐに began to people the space about me with ghoulish 人物／姿／数字s. How should I escape them, how ever reach my own little room again undetected and in safety?

"But these terrors, 深い as they were, were nothing to the real fright which 掴むd me when, the 不明瞭 finally 勇敢に立ち向かうd, and the way 設立する 支援する into the 有望な, wide-open halls of the house, I became conscious of having dropped something besides the candle. My match-box was gone—not my match-box, but my grandfather's which I had 設立する lying on his （米）棚上げする／（英）提議する and carried off on this adventure, in all the 信用／信任 of irresponsible 青年. To make use of it for a little while, 信用ing to his not 行方不明の it in the 混乱 I had noticed about the house that morning, was one thing; to lose it was another. It was no ありふれた box. Made of gold and 心にいだくd for some special 推論する／理由 井戸／弁護士席 known to himself, I had often hear him say that some day I would 高く評価する／（相場などが）上がる its value, and be glad to own it. And I had left it in that 穴を開ける and at any minute he might 行方不明になる it—かもしれない ask for it! The day was one of torment. My mother was away or shut up in her room. My father—I don't know just what thoughts I had about him. He was not to be seen either, and the servants cast strange looks at me when I spoke his 指名する. But I little realized the blow which had just fallen upon the house in his 限定された 出発, and only thought of my own trouble, and of how I should 会合，会う my grandfather's 注目する，もくろむ when the hour （機の）カム for him to draw me to his 膝 for his usual good-night.

"That I was spared this ordeal for the first time this very night first 慰安d me, then 追加するd to my 苦しめる. He had discovered his loss and was angry. On the morrow he would ask me for the box and I would have to 嘘（をつく）, for never could I find the courage to tell him where I had been. Such an 行為／法令／行動する of presumption he would never 許す, or so I thought as I lay and shivered in my little bed. That his coldness, his neglect, sprang from the 発見 just made that my mother 同様に as my father had just fled the house forever was as little known to me as the morning calamity. I had been given my usual tendance and was tucked 安全に into bed; but the gloom, the silence which presently settled upon the house had a very different explanation in my mind from the real one. My sin (for such it ぼんやり現れるd large in my mind by this time) coloured the whole 状況／情勢 and accounted for every event.

"At what hour I slipped from my bed on to the 冷淡な 床に打ち倒す, I shall never know. To me it seemed to be in the dead of night; but I 疑問 if it were more than ten. So slowly creep away the moments to a wakeful child. I had made a 広大な／多数の／重要な 解決する. Awful as the prospect seemed to me,—脅すd as I was by the very thought,—I had 決定するd in my small mind to go 負かす／撃墜する into the cellar, and into that midnight 穴を開ける again, in search of the lost box. I would take a candle and matches, this time from my own mantel-shelf, and if everyone was asleep, as appeared from the deathly 静かな of the house, I would be able to go and come without anybody ever 存在 the wiser.

"Dressing in the dark, I 設立する my matches and my candle and, putting them in one of my pockets, softly opened my door and looked out. Nobody was stirring; every light was out except a 独房監禁 one in the lower hall. That this still 燃やすd 伝えるd no meaning to my mind. How could I know that the house was so still and the rooms dark because everyone was out searching for some 手がかり（を与える） to my mother's flight? If I had looked at the clock—but I did not; I was too 意図 upon my errand, too filled with the fever of my desperate 請け負うing, to be 影響する／感情d by anything not 耐えるing 直接／まっすぐに upon it.

"Of the terror 原因（となる）d by my own 影をつくる／尾行する on the 塀で囲む as I made the turn in the hall below, I have as keen a recollection today as though it happened yesterday. But that did not 阻止する me; nothing deterred me, till 安全な in the cellar I crouched 負かす／撃墜する behind the 樽s to get my breath again before entering the 穴を開ける beyond.

"I had made some noise in feeling my way around these 樽s, and I trembled lest these sounds had been heard upstairs! But this 恐れる soon gave place to one far greater. Other sounds were making themselves heard. A din of small skurrying feet above, below, on every 味方する of me! ネズミs! ネズミs in the 塀で囲む! ネズミs on the cellar 底（に届く）! How I ever stirred from the 位置／汚点／見つけ出す I do not know, but when I did 動かす, it was to go 今後, and enter the uncanny 穴を開ける.

"I had ーするつもりであるd to light my candle when I got inside; but for some 推論する／理由 I went つまずくing along in the dark, に引き続いて the 塀で囲む till I got to the steps where I had dropped the box. Here a light was necessary, but my 手渡す did not go to my pocket. I thought it better to climb the steps first, and softly one foot 設立する the tread and then another. I had only three more to climb and then my 権利 手渡す, now feeling its way along the 塀で囲む, would be 解放する／自由な to strike a match. I climbed the three steps and was 安定したing myself against the door for a final 急落（する），激減（する）, when something happened—something so strange, so 予期しない, and so incredible that I wonder I did not shriek aloud in my terror. The door was moving under my 手渡す. It was slowly 開始 inward. I could feel the 冷気／寒がらせる made by the 広げるing 割れ目. Moment by moment this 冷気／寒がらせる 増加するd; the gap was growing—a presence was there—a presence before which I sank in a small heap upon the 上陸. Would it 前進する? Had it feet—手渡すs? Was it a presence which could be felt?

"Whatever it was, it made no 試みる／企てる to pass, and presently I 解除するd my 長，率いる only to 地震 もう一度 at the sound of a 発言する／表明する—a human 発言する／表明する—my mother's 発言する／表明する—so 近づく me that by putting out my 武器 I might have touched her.

"She was speaking to my father. I knew from the トン. She was 説 words which, little understood as they were, made such a havoc in my youthful mind that I have never forgotten the 影響.

"'I have come!' she said. 'They think I have fled the house and are looking far and wide for me. We shall not be 乱すd. Who would think of looking here for either you or me.'

"Here! The word sank like a 急落する in my breast. I had known for some few minutes that I was on the threshold of the forbidden room; but they were in it. I can scarcely make you understand the tumult which this awoke in my brain. Somehow, I had never thought that any such 勇敢に立ち向かうing of the house's 法律 would be possible.

"I heard my father's answer, but it 伝えるd no meaning to me. I also realized that he spoke from a distance,—that he was at one end of the room while we were at the other. I was presently to have this idea 確認するd, for while I was 努力する／競うing with all my might and main to subdue my very heart-throbs so that she would not hear me or 嫌疑者，容疑者／疑う my presence, the 不明瞭—I should rather say the blackness of the place 産する／生じるd to a flash of 雷—heat 雷, all glare and no sound—and I caught an instantaneous 見通し of my father's 人物／姿／数字 standing with gleaming things about him, which 影響する／感情d me at the moment as supernatural, but which, in later years, I decided to have been 武器s hanging on a 塀で囲む.

"She saw him too, for she gave a quick laugh and said they would not need any candles; and then, there was another flash and I saw something in his 手渡す and something in hers, and though I did not yet understand, I felt myself turning deathly sick and gave a choking gasp which was lost in the 急ぐ she made into the centre of the room, and the keenness of her swift low cry.

"'Garde-toi! for only one of us will ever leave this room alive!'

"A duel! a duel to the death between this husband and wife—this father and mother—in this 穴を開ける of dead 悲劇s and within the sight and 審理，公聴会 of their child! Has Satan ever 工夫するd a 計画／陰謀 more hideous for 廃虚ing the life of an eleven-year-old boy!

"Not that I took it all in at once. I was too innocent and much too dazed to comprehend such 憎悪, much いっそう少なく the passions which engender it. I only knew that something horrible—something beyond the conception of my childish mind—was going to take place in the 不明瞭 before me; and the terror of it made me speechless; would to God it had made me deaf and blind and dead!

"She had dashed from her corner and he had slid away from his, as the next fantastic glare which lit up the room showed me. It also showed the 武器s in their 手渡すs, and for a moment I felt 安心させるd when I saw that these were swords, for I had seen them before with 失敗させる／負かすs in their 手渡すs practising for 演習, as they said, in the 広大な／多数の／重要な garret. But the swords had buttons on them, and this time the tips were sharp and shone in the keen light.

"An exclamation from her and a growl of 激怒（する） from him were followed by movements I could scarcely hear, but which were terrifying from their very 静かな. Then the sound of a 衝突／不一致. The swords had crossed.

"Had the 雷 flashed 前へ／外へ then, the end of one of them might have occurred. But the 不明瞭 remained undisturbed, and when the glare relit the 広大な／多数の／重要な room again, they were already far apart. This called out a word from him; the one 宣告，判決 he spoke—I can never forget it:

"'Rhoda, there is 血 on your sleeve; I have 負傷させるd you. Shall we call it off and 飛行機で行く, as the poor creatures in there think we have, to the opposite ends of the earth?'

"I almost spoke; I almost 追加するd my childish 嘆願 to his for them to stop—to remember me and stop. But not a muscle in my throat 答える／応じるd to my agonized 成果／努力. Her 冷淡な, （疑いを）晴らす 'No!' fell before my tongue was loosed or my heart 解放する／自由なd from the ponderous 負わせる 鎮圧するing it.

"'I have 公約するd and I keep my 約束s,' she went on in a トン やめる strange to me. 'What would either's life be 価値（がある） with the other alive and happy in this world.'

"He made no answer; and those subtle movements—影をつくる／尾行するs of movements I might almost call them—recommenced. Then there （機の）カム a sudden cry, shrill and poignant—had Grandfather been in his room he would surely have heard it—and the flash coming almost 同時に with its utterance, I saw what has haunted my sleep from that day to this, my father pinned against the 塀で囲む, sword still in 手渡す, and before him my mother, ひどく 勝利を得た, her 星／主役にするing 注目する，もくろむs 直す／買収する，八百長をするd on his and—

"Nature could 耐える no more; the 禁止（する）d 緩和するd from my throat; the 圧迫 解除するd from my breast long enough for me to give one wild wail and she turned, saw (heaven sent its flashes quickly at this moment) and 認めるing my childish form, all the horror of her 行為 (or so I have 情愛深く hoped) rose within her, and she gave a start and fell 十分な upon the point 上昇傾向d to receive her.

"A groan; then a gasping sigh from him, and silence settled upon the room and upon my heart, and so far as I knew upon the whole created world.

"That is my story, friends. Do you wonder that I have never been or lived like other men?"

After a few moments of 同情的な silence, Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn went on, to say:

"I don't think I ever had a moment's 疑問 that my parents both lay dead on the 床に打ち倒す of that 広大な／多数の／重要な room. When I （機の）カム to myself—which may have been soon, and may not have been for a long while—the 雷 had 中止するd to flash, leaving the 不明瞭 stretching like a blank 棺／かげり between me and that 位置／汚点／見つけ出す in which were concentrated all the terrors of which my imagination was 有能な. I dared not enter it. I dared not take one step that way. My instinct was to 飛行機で行く and hide my trembling 団体／死体 again in my own bed; and associated with this, in fact 支配するing it and making me old before my time, was another—never to tell; never to let any one, least of all my grandfather—know what that forbidden room now 含む／封じ込めるd. I felt in an irresistible sort of way that my father's and mother's honour was at 火刑／賭ける. Besides, terror held me 支援する; I felt that I should die if I spoke. Childhood has such terrors and such heroisms. Silence often covers in such, abysses of thought and feeling which astonish us in later years. There is no 苦しむing like a child's, terrified by a secret which it dare not for some 推論する／理由 公表する／暴露する.

"Events 補佐官d me. When, in desperation to see once more the light and all the things which linked me to life—my little bed, the toys on the window-sill, my squirrel in its cage—I 軍隊d myself to retraverse the empty house, 推定する／予想するing at every turn to hear my father's 発言する／表明する or come upon the image of my mother—yes, such was the 混乱 of my mind, though I knew 井戸／弁護士席 enough even then that they were dead and that I should never hear the one or see the other. I was so benumbed with the 冷淡な in my half-dressed 条件, that I woke in a fever next morning after a terrible dream which 軍隊d from my lips the cry of 'Mother! Mother!'—only that.

"I was 用心深い even in delirium. This delirium and my 紅潮／摘発するd cheeks and 向こうずねing 注目する，もくろむs led them to be very careful of me. I was told that my mother was away from home; and when after two days of search they were やめる sure that all 成果／努力 to find either her or my father were likely to 証明する fruitless, that she had gone to Europe where we would follow her as soon as I was 井戸／弁護士席. This 約束, 申し込む／申し出ing as it did, a prospect of 即座の 解放（する） from the terrors which were 消費するing me, had an 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 影響 upon me. I got up out of my bed 説 that I was 井戸／弁護士席 now and ready to start on the instant. The doctor, finding my pulse equable, and my whole 条件 wonder fully 改善するd, and せいにするing it, as was natural, to my hope of soon joining my mother, advised my whim to be humoured and this hope kept active till travel and intercourse with children should give me strength and 準備する me for the bitter truth 最終的に を待つing me. They listened to him and in twenty-four hours our 準備s were made. We saw the house の近くにd—with what emotions 殺到するing in one small breast, I leave you to imagine—and then started on our long 小旅行する. For five years we wandered over the continent of Europe, my grandfather finding distraction, 同様に as myself, in foreign scenes and 協会s.

"But return was 必然的な. What I 苦しむd on reentering this house, God and my sleepless pillow alone know. Had any 発見 been made in our absence; or would it be made now that 革新 and 修理s of all 肉親，親類d were necessary? Time finally answered me. My secret was 安全な and likely to continue so, and this fact once settled, life became endurable, if not cheerful. Since then I have spent only two nights out of this house, and they were 避けられない. When my grandfather died I had the wainscot door 固く結び付けるd in. It was done from this 味方する and the 固く結び付ける painted to match the 支持を得ようと努めるd. No one opened the door nor have I ever crossed its threshold. いつかs I think I have been foolish; and いつかs I know that I have been very wise. My 推論する／理由 has stood 会社／堅い; how do I know that it would have done so if I had 支配するd myself to the possible 発見 that one or both of them might have been saved if I had 公表する／暴露するd instead of 隠すd my adventure."

A pause during which white horror had shone on every 直面する; then with a final ちらりと見ること at Violet, he said:

"What sequel do you see to this story, 行方不明になる Strange? I can tell the past, I leave you to picture the 未来."

Rising, she let her 注目する，もくろむ travel from 直面する to 直面する till it 残り／休憩（する）d on the one を待つing it, when she answered dreamily:

"If some morning in the news column there should appear an account of the 古代の and historic home of the 先頭 Broecklyns having 燃やすd to the ground in the night, the whole country would 嘆く／悼む, and the city feel defrauded of one of its treasures. But there are five persons who would see in it the sequel which you ask for."

When this happened, as it did happen, some few weeks later, the astonishing 発見 was made that no 保険 had been put upon this house. Why was it that after such a loss Mr. 先頭 Broecklyn seemed to 新たにする his 青年? It was a constant source of comment の中で his friends.

End Of Problem VIII

Problem IX
Violet's Own

"It has been too much for you?"

"I am afraid so."

It was Roger Upjohn who had asked the question; it was Violet who answered. They had 孤立した from a （人が）群がる of ダンサーs to a balcony, half-shaded, half open to the moon,—a balcony made, it would seem, for just such stolen interviews between waltzes.

Now, as it happened, Roger's 直面する was in the 影をつくる／尾行する, but Violet's in the 十分な light. Very 甘い it looked, very ethereal, but also a little 病弱な. He noticed this and impetuously cried:

"You are pale; and your 手渡す! see, how it trembles!"

Slowly 身を引くing it from the rail where it had 残り／休憩（する）d, she sent one quick ちらりと見ること his way and, in a low 発言する／表明する, said:

"I have not slept since that night."

"Four days!" he murmured. Then, after a moment of silence, "You bore yourself so bravely at the time, I thought, or rather, I hoped, that success had made you forget the horror. I could not have slept myself, if I had known—"

"It is part of the price I 支払う／賃金," she broke in gently. "All good things have to be paid for. But I see—I realize that you do not consider what I am doing good. Though it helps other people—has helped you—you wonder why, with all the advantages I 所有する, I should meddle with 事柄s so repugnant to a woman's natural instincts."

Yes, he wondered. That was evident from his silence. Seeing her as she stood there, so quaintly pretty, so feminine in look and manner—in short, such a flower—it was but natural that he should marvel at the incongruity she had について言及するd.

"It has a strange, 半端物 look," she 認める, after a moment of troubled hesitation. "The most considerate person cannot but regard it as a 陳列する，発揮する of egotism or of a most mercenary spirit. The cheque you sent me for what I was enabled to do for you in Massachusetts (the only one I have ever received which I have been tempted to 辞退する) shows to what extent you 率d my help and my—my 期待s. Had I been a poor girl struggling for subsistence, this generosity would have warmed my heart as a 記念品 of your 願望（する） to 削減（する） that struggle short. But taken with your knowledge of my home and its 高級なs, it has often made me wonder what you thought."

"Shall I tell you?"

He had stepped 今後 at this question and his countenance, hitherto 隠すd, became 明白な in the moonlight. She no longer 認めるd it. Transformed by feeling, it shone 負かす／撃墜する upon her, instinct with all that is finest and best in masculine nature. Was she ready for this 発覚 of what she had にもかかわらず dreamed of for many more nights than four? She did not know, and instinctively drew herself 支援する till it was she who now stood in the 半分-obscurity made by the drooping vines. From this 退却／保養地, she 滞るd 前へ／外へ a very tremulous No, which in another moment was 否認するd by a Yes so faint it was little more than a murmur, followed by a still fainter, Tell me.

But he did not seem in any haste to obey, sweetly as her low-トンd （裁判所の）禁止（強制）命令 must have sounded in his ears. On the contrary, he hesitated to speak, growing paler every minute as he sought to catch a glimpse of her downcast 直面する so tantalizingly hidden from him. Did she 認める the nature of the feelings which held him 支援する, or was she 簡単に 集会 up 十分な courage to 嘆願d her own 原因（となる）? Whatever her 推論する／理由, it was she, not he, who presently spoke 説 as if no time had elapsed:

"But first, I feel 強いるd to 収容する／認める that it was money I 手配中の，お尋ね者, that I had to have. Not for myself. I 欠如（する） nothing and could have more if I wished. Father has never 限られた／立憲的な his generosity in any 事柄 影響する／感情ing myself, but—" She drew a 深い breath and, coming out of the 影をつくる／尾行する, 解除するd a 直面する to him so changed from its usual 表現 as to make him start. "I have a 原因（となる） at heart—one which should 控訴，上告 to my father and does not; and for that 目的 I have sacrificed myself, in many ways, though—though I have not disliked my work up to this last 試みる／企てる. Not really. I want to be honest and so must 収容する／認める that much. I have even gloried (静かに and all by myself, of course) over the 解答 of a mystery which no one else seemed able to 侵入する. I am made that way. I have known it ever since—but that is a story all by itself. Some day I may tell it to you, but not now."

"No, not now." The 強調 sent the colour into her cheek but did not relieve his pallor. "行方不明になる Strange, I have always felt, even in my worst days, that the man who for selfish ends brought a woman under the 影をつくる／尾行する of his own unhappy 評判 was a man to be despised. And I think so still, and yet—and yet—nothing in the world but your own word or look can 持つ／拘留する me 支援する now from telling you that I love you—love you notwithstanding my unworthy past, my scarring memories, my all but 爆破d hopes. I do not 推定する／予想する any 返答; you are young; you are beautiful; you are gifted with every grace; but to speak,—to say over and over again, 'I love you, I love you!' 緩和するs my heart and makes my 未来 more endurable. Oh, do not look at me like that unless—unless—"

But the 有望な 長，率いる did not 落ちる, nor the tender gaze 滞る; and driven out of himself, Roger Upjohn was about to step passionately 今後, when, 掴むd by fresh compunction, he hoarsely cried:

"It is not 権利. The balance 下落するs too much my way. You bring me everything. I can give you nothing but what you already 所有する 豊富—love, and money. Besides, your father—"

She interrupted him with a ちらりと見ること at once arch and earnest.

"I had a talk with Father this morning. He （機の）カム to my room, and—and it was very 近づく 存在 serious. Someone had told him I was doing things on the sly which he had better look into; and of course he asked questions and—and I answered them. He wasn't pleased—in fact he was very displeased,—I don't think we can 非難する him for that—but we had no open break for I love him dearly, for all my …に反対するing ways, and he saw that, and it helped, though he did say after I had given my 約束 to stop where I was and never to （問題を）取り上げる such work again, that—" here she stole a shy look at the 直面する bent so 熱望して に向かって her—"that I had lost my social status and need never hope now for the attentions of—of—井戸／弁護士席, of such men as he admires and puts 約束 in. So you see," her dimples all showing, "that I am not such a very good match for an Upjohn of Massachusetts, even if he has a 評判 to 回復する and an honourable 指名する to 達成する. The 規模 hangs more 平等に than you think."

"Violet!"

A 相互の look, a moment of perfect silence, then a low whisper, airy as the breath of flowers rising from the garden below: "I have never known what happiness was till this moment. If you will take me with my story untold—"

"Take you! take you!" The man's whole yearning heart, the loss and bitterness of years, the hope and 約束 of the 未来, all spoke in that low, half-smothered exclamation. Violet's blushes faded under its fervency, and only her spirit spoke, as leaning に向かって him, she laid her two 手渡すs in his, and said with all a woman's earnestness:

"I do not forget little Roger, or the father who I hope may have many more days before him in which to 企て，努力，提案 good-night to the sea. Such union as ours must be hallowed, because we have so many persons to make happy besides ourselves."

The evening before their marriage, Violet put a dozen 倍のd sheets of closely written paper in his 手渡す. They 含む／封じ込めるd her story; let us read it with him.

DEAR ROGER,—

I could not have been more than seven years old, when one night I woke up shivering, at the sound of angry 発言する／表明するs. A conversation which no child should ever have heard, was going on in the room where I lay. My father was talking to my sister—perhaps, you do not know that I have a sister; few of my personal friends do,—and the terror she evinced I could 井戸／弁護士席 understand but not his words nor the real 原因（となる） of his displeasure.

There are times even yet when the picture, 軍隊d upon my infantile consciousness at that moment of first awakening, comes 支援する to me with all its 初めの vividness. There was no light in the room save such as the moon made; but that was enough to 明らかにする／漏らす the passion burningly alive in either 直面する, as, bending に向かって each other, she in supplication and he in a tempest of wrath which knew no bounds, he uttered and she listened to what I now know to have been a terrible （被告の）罪状否認.

I may have an 利益／興味ing countenance; you have told me so いつかs; but she—she was beautiful. My 年上の by ten years, she had stood in my mother's stead to me for almost as long as I could remember, and as I saw her lovely features contorted with 苦痛 and her 手渡すs 延長するd in a desperate 嘆願 to one who had never shown me anything but love, my throat の近くにd はっきりと and I could not cry out though I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to, nor move 長，率いる or foot though I longed with all my heart to bury myself in the pillows.

For the words I heard were terrifying, little as I comprehended their 十分な 趣旨. He had surprised her talking from her window to someone 負かす／撃墜する below, and after 説 cruel things about that, he shouted out: "You have 不名誉d me, you have 不名誉d yourself, you have 不名誉d your brother and your little sister. Was it not enough that you should 辞退する to marry the good man I had 選ぶd out for you, that you should stoop to this low-負かす／撃墜する scoundrel—this—" I did not hear what else he called him, I was wondering so to whom she had been stooping; I had never seen her stoop except to tie my little shoes.

But when she cried out as she did after an interval, "I love him! I love him!" then I listened again, for she spoke as though she were in dreadful 苦痛, and I did not know that loving made one ill and unhappy. "And I am going to marry him," I heard her 追加する, standing up, as she said it, very straight and tall.

Marry! I knew what that meant. A long aisle in a church; women in white and big music in the 空気／公表する behind. I had been flower-girl at a wedding once and had not forgotten. We had had ice cream and cake and—

But my childish thoughts stopped short at the answer she received and all the words which followed—words which 燃やすd their way into my infantile brain and left scorched places in my memory which will never be eradicated. He spoke them—spoke them all; she never answered again after that once, and when he was gone did not move for a long time and when she did it was to 嘘（をつく） 負かす／撃墜する, stiff and straight, just as she had stood, on her bed と一緒に 地雷.

I was 脅すd; so 脅すd, my little 厚かましさ／高級将校連 bed 動揺させるd under me. I wonder she did not hear it. But she heard nothing; and after awhile she was so still I fell asleep. But I woke again. Something hot had fallen on my cheek. I put up my 手渡す to 小衝突 it away and did not know even when I felt my fingers wet that it was a 涙／ほころび from my sister-mother's 注目する，もくろむ.

For she was ひさまづくing then; ひさまづくing の近くに beside me and her arm was over my small 団体／死体; and the bed was shaking again but not this time with my （軽い）地震s only. And I was sorry and cried too until I dropped off to sleep again with her arm still passionately embracing me.

In the morning, she was gone.

It must have been that very afternoon that Father （機の）カム in where Arthur and I were trying to play,—trying, but not やめる 後継するing, for I had been telling Arthur, for whom I had a 広大な／多数の／重要な 尊敬（する）・点 in those days, what had happened the night before, and we had been wondering in our childish way if there would be a wedding after all, and a church 十分な of people, and flowers, and kissing, and lots of good things to eat, and Arthur had said No, it was too expensive; that that was why Father was so angry; and 慰安d by the 主張, I was taking up my doll again, when the door opened and Father stepped in.

It was a 広大な／多数の／重要な event—any visit from him to the nursery—and we both dropped our toys and stood 星／主役にするing, not knowing whether he was going to be nice and 肉親，親類d as he いつかs was, or scold us as I had heard him scold our beautiful sister.

Arthur showed at once what he thought, for without the least hesitation he took the one step which placed him in 前線 of me, where he stood waiting with his two little 握りこぶしs hanging straight at his 味方するs but manfully clenched in 十分な 準備完了 for attack. That this 陳列する，発揮する of pigmy chivalry was not やめる without its 令状 is evident to me now, for Father did not look like himself or 行為／法令／行動する like himself any more than he had the night before.

However, we had no 原因（となる） for 恐れる. Having no 疑惑 of my having been awake during his terrible interview with Theresa, he saw only two lonely and forsaken children, interrupted in their play.

Can I remember what he said to us? Not 正確に／まさに, though Arthur and I often went over it choked whispers in some secret nook of the dreary old house; but his meaning—that we took in 井戸／弁護士席 enough. Theresa had left us. She would never come 支援する. We were not to look out of the window for her, or run to the door when the bell rang. Our mother had left us too, a long time ago, and she lay in the 共同墓地 where we いつかs carried flowers. Theresa was not in the 共同墓地, but we must think of her as there; though not as if she had any need of flowers. Having said this, he looked at us 静かに for a minute. Arthur was trying very hard not to cry, but I was sobbing like the lost child I was, with my cheek against the 床に打ち倒す where I had thrown myself when he said that awful thing about the 共同墓地. She there! my sister-mother there! I think he felt a little sorry for me; for he half stooped as if to 解除する me up. But he straightened again and said very 厳しく:

"Now, children, listen to me. When God takes people to heaven and leaves us only their 冷淡な, dead 団体／死体s we carry flowers to their 墓／厳粛／彫る／重大なs and talk about them some if not very much. But when people die because they love dark ways better than light, then we do not remember them with gifts and we do not talk about them. Your sister's 指名する has been spoken for the last time in this house. You, Arthur, are old enough to know what I mean when I say that I will never listen to another word about her from either you or Violet as long as you and I live. She is gone and nothing that is 地雷 shall she ever touch again.

"You hear me, Arthur; you hear me, Violet. 注意する me, or you go too."

His 面 was terrible, so was his 目的; much more terrible than we realized at the time with our 限られた／立憲的な understanding and experience. Later, we （機の）カム to know the 十分な meaning of this 黒人／ボイコット 減少（する） which had been infused into our lives. When we saw every picture of her destroyed which had been in the house; her 指名する 削減（する） out from the leaves of 調書をとる／予約するs; the little 記念品s she had given us surreptitiously taken away, till not a 痕跡 of her once beloved presence remained, we began to realize that we had indeed lost her.

But children as young as we were then do not long 保持する the poignancy of their first griefs. 徐々に my memories of that awful night 中止するd to 乱す my dreams and I was sixteen before they were again 解任するd to me with any vividness, and then it was by 事故. I had been strolling through a picture gallery and had stopped short to 熟考する／考慮する more 特に one which had 特に taken my fancy. There were two ladies sitting on a （法廷の）裁判 behind me and one of them was evidently very deaf, for their talk was loud, though I am sure they did not mean for me to hear, for they were discussing my family. That is, one of them had said:

"That's Violet Strange. She will never be the beauty her sister was; but perhaps that's not to be 嘆き悲しむd. Theresa made a 広大な／多数の／重要な mess of it."

"That's true. I hear that she and the Signor have been seen lately here in town. In poverty, of course. He hadn't even as much go in him as the ordinary singing-master."

I suppose I should have hurried away, and left this barbed arrow to rankle where it fell. But I could not. I had never learned a word of Theresa's 運命／宿命 and that word poverty, 証明するing that she was alive and 苦しむing, held me to my place to hear what more they might say of her who for years had been for me an indistinct 人物／姿／数字 bathed in cruel moonlight.

"I have never 認可するd of Peter Strange's 行為／行う at that time," one of the 発言する／表明するs now went on. "He didn't 扱う her 権利. She had a lovely disposition and would have listened to him had he been more gentle with her. But it isn't in him. I hope this one—"

I didn't hear the end of that. I had no 利益／興味 in anything they might say about myself. It was of her I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to hear, of her. Weren't they going to say anything more about my poor sister? Yes; it was a topic which 利益／興味d both and presently I heard:

"He'll never do anything for her, no 事柄 what happens; I've heard him say so. And Laura has 公約するd the same." (Laura is our aunt.) "Besides, Theresa has a pride of her own やめる equal to her father's. She wouldn't take anything from him now. She'd rather struggle on. I'm told—I don't know how true it is—that she's working in a department 蓄える／店; one of the Sixth Avenue ones. Oh, there's Mrs. Vandegraff! Don't you want to speak to her?"

They moved off, leaving me still gazing with unseeing 注目する，もくろむs at the picture before which I stood 工場／植物d, and 説 over and over in monotonous iteration, "One of the department 蓄える／店s in Sixth Avenue! One of the department 蓄える／店s in Sixth Avenue!"

Which department 蓄える／店?

I meant to find out.

I do not know whether up till then I had had the least consciousness of 所有するing what is called the 探偵，刑事 instinct. But, at the prospect of this 追求（する），探索（する）, so much like that of the proverbial needle in a haystack, as I did not even know my sister's married 指名する and something within me forbade my asking it, I experienced an 半端物 sense of elation followed by a certainty of success which in five minutes changed me from an irresponsible girl to a woman with a 審議する／熟考する 目的 in life.

I am not going to 令状 負かす／撃墜する here all the 詳細（に述べる）s of that search. Some day I may relate them to you, but not now. I looked first for a beautiful woman, for the straight, わずかな／ほっそりした, and exquisite creature I remembered. I did not find her. Then I tried another course. Her 人物／姿／数字 might have changed in the ten years which had elapsed; so might her 表現. I would look for a woman with beautiful dark 注目する，もくろむs; time could not have altered them. I had forgotten the 影響 of constant weeping. And I saw many 注目する，もくろむs, but not hers; not the ones I had seen smiling upon me as I lay in my crib before the days I was 解除するd to the dignity of the little 厚かましさ／高級将校連 bed. So I gave that up too and listened to the inner 発言する／表明する which said, "You must wait for her to 認める you. You can never hope to 認める her." And it was by に引き続いて this 計画（する） that I 設立する her. I had arranged to have my 指名する spoken aloud at every 反対する where I 取引d; and oh, the 取引s I sought, and the 衣料品s I had tried on! But I made little 進歩 until one day, after my 指名する had been uttered a little louder than usual I saw a woman turn from 配列し直すing gowns on a hanger, and give me one look.

I uttered a low cry and sprang impetuously, 今後. 即時に she turned her 支援する and went on hanging, or trying to hang up, gowns on the rack before her. Had I been mistaken? She was not the sister of my dreams, but there was something 罰金 in her 輪郭（を描く）; something distinguished in the way she carried her 長，率いる which—

Next minute my last 疑問 fled! She had fallen her length on the 床に打ち倒す and lay with her 直面する buried in her 手渡すs in a dead faint.

Oh, Roger, Roger, Roger! I had that dear 長，率いる on my breast in a moment. I talked to her, I whispered 祈りs in her unconscious ear. I did everything I should not have done till they all thought me demented. When she （機の）カム to, as she did under other ministrations than 地雷, I was for carrying her off in my リムジン. But she shook her 長，率いる with a gesture of such 不賛成, that I realized I could not do that. The リムジン was my father's, and nothing of his was ever to be used for her again. I would call a cab; but she told me that she had not the money to 支払う／賃金 for it and she would not take 地雷. Carfare she had; five cents would take her home. I need not worry.

She smiled as she said this and for an instant I saw my dream-sister again in this 疲れた／うんざりした half-disheartened woman. But the smile was a (n)艦隊／(a)素早いing one, for this was to be her last day in the 蓄える／店; she had no talent as a saleswoman and was 単に working out her week.

I felt my heart 沈む ひどく at this, for the 証拠s of poverty were plainly to be seen in her 着せる／賦与するs and the thinness of her 直面する and 人物／姿／数字. How could I help? What could I do? I took her to a restaurant for food and talk, and before she would order, she looked into her purse, with the result that we had only a little toast and tea. It was all she could afford and I, with a hundred dollars in 法案s at that moment in my 捕らえる、獲得する, could not 申し込む／申し出 her anything more though she was needing nourishment and dishes piled with savoury meats were going by us every moment.

I think, if she had let me, I would have dared my father's displeasure and been disobedient to his wishes by giving her one wholesome meal. But she was as resolute of mind as he, and, as she said afterwards, had chosen her course in life and must がまんする by it. My love she would 受託する. It took nothing from Father and gave her what her heart was pining for—had pined for for years. But nothing more—not another thing more. She would not even let me go home with her; and I knew why when her 注目する，もくろむs fell at the searching look I gave her. Something would turn up, and when her husband's health was better and she had 設立する another position she would send me her 演説（する）／住所 and then I could come and see her. As we walked out of the restaurant we ran against a gentleman I knew. He stopped me for a passing word and in that minute she disappeared. I did not try to follow her. I could get her street and number from the 蓄える／店 where she had worked.

But when I had done this and embraced the first 適切な時期 which 申し込む／申し出d to visit her, I 設立する that she had moved away in the 暫定的な, leaving everything behind in 支払い（額） of her rent, except such small things as she and her husband could carry. This was discouraging as it left me without any 手がかり（を与える） by which to follow them. But I was 決定するd not to 産する／生じる to her 願望（する） for concealment in the difficult and disheartening 仕事 I now saw before me.

捜し出すing advice from the man who has since become my 雇用者, I entered upon this second search with a 静かな 決意／決議 which 認める of no 敗北・負かす. It took me six months, but I finally 設立する her, and 満足させるd with knowing where she was, desisted from 急ぐing in upon her, till I had caught one glimpse of her husband whom, in the last six months, I had heard 述べるd but had never seen. To understand her, it was perhaps necessary to understand him, and if I could not hope to do this offhand, I could not fail to get some idea of the man from even the most casual look.

He was, as I soon learned, the fetcher and 運送／保菌者 of the small ménage; and the day （機の）カム when I met him 直面する to 直面する in the street where they lived. Did he disappoint me; or did I see something in his 外見 to 正当化する her desertion of her father's home and her 現在の life of poverty? If I say Yes to the first question, I must also say it to the last. If handsome once, he was not handsome now; but with a personality such as his, this did not 事柄. He had that better thing—that greatest gift of the gods—charm. It was in his 耐えるing, his movement, the regard of his 疲れた／うんざりした 注目する，もくろむ; more than that it was in his very nature or it would have 消えるd long ago under 失望 and privation.

But that was all there was to the man,—a golden 逮捕する in which my sister's youthful fancy had been caught and no 疑問 held meshed to this very day. I felt いっそう少なく like 非難するing her for her folly, after that instant's 見解（をとる） of him as we passed each other in the street. But, as I took time to think, I 設立する myself growing sorrier and sorrier for her and yet, in a way, gladder and gladder, for the man was a physical 難破させる and would soon pass out of her life leaving her to my love and かもしれない to our father's forgiveness.

But I did not know Theresa. After her husband's death, which occurred very soon, she let me come to her and we had a long talk. Shall I ever forget it or the sight of her beauty in that sordid room? For, account for it as you will, the loveliness which had fled under her sense of 完全にする 孤立／分離 had slowly 回復するd its own with the 承認 that she still had a place in the heart of her little sister. Not even the 悲しみ she felt for the loss of her 苦しむing husband—and she did 嘆く／悼む him; this I am glad to say—could more than 一時的に stay this. Six months of 緩和する and wholesome food would make her—I hardly dared to think what. For I knew, without asking her, or she telling me, that she would 受託する neither; that she was as 決定するd now, as ever that nothing which （機の）カム 直接／まっすぐに or 間接に from Father should go to the 再構築するing of her life. That she ーするつもりであるd to start もう一度 and work her way up to a place where I should be glad to see her she did say. But nothing more. She was still the sister-mother, loving, but 十分な to herself, though she had but ten dollars left in the world, as she showed me with a smile that made her beautiful as an angel.

I can see that shabby little purse yet with its one poor greasy 法案;—a sum to her but to me the price of a 昼食 or a gift of flowers. How I longed, as I looked at it to 涙／ほころび every jewel from my poor, bedecked 団体／死体 and fling them one and all into her （競技場の）トラック一周. I had worn them in profusion, though carefully hidden under my coat, in the hope that she would 受託する one of them at least, But she 辞退するd all, even such as had been gifts of friends and schoolmates, only humouring me this far, that she let me hang them for a few minutes about her neck and in her hair and then pull them all off again. But this one 見通し of her in the splendour she was born to 慰安d me. Henceforth in wearing them it would be of her and not of myself I should think.

井戸／弁護士席, I had to leave her and go home to my French and Italian lessons, my music-masters and all the 高級なs of our father's house. Should I ever see her again? I did not know; she had not 約束d. I could not go often into the ４半期/4分の1 where she lived, without rousing 疑惑; and she had bidden me not to come again for a month. So I waited, half 恐れるing she would flit again before the month was up. But she did not. She was still there when—

But I am going too 急速な／放蕩な. The 会合 I was about to について言及する was a very memorable one to me, and I must 述べる it from the beginning. I had ridden in my own car as 近づく as I dared to the street where she lived; the 残り／休憩（する） of the way I went on foot with one of the servants—a new one—に引き続いて の近くに behind me. I was not 正確に／まさに afraid, but the 活動／戦闘s of some of the people I had 遭遇（する）d at my former visit 警告するd me to be a little careful for my father's sake if not for my own. Her room—she had but one—was high up in a triangular 法廷，裁判所 it was no 楽しみ to enter. But love and 忠義 注意する nothing but the 反対する sought, and I was 追跡（する）ing about for the dark doorway which opened upon the staircase 主要な to her room when—and this was the 広大な／多数の／重要な moment of my life—a sudden stream of melody floated 負かす／撃墜する into that noisome 法廷，裁判所, which from its clearness, its 正確, its richness, and its feeling startled me as I had never before been startled even by the first 公式文書，認めるs of the world's greatest singers. What a 発言する／表明する for a place like this! What a 発言する／表明する for any place! Whose could it be? With a start, I stopped short, in the middle of that 法廷，裁判所, heedless of the （人が）群がる of 押し進めるing, shouting children who at once gathered about me. I had been struck by an old recollection. My sister used to sing. I remembered where her piano had stood in the 広大な／多数の／重要な 製図／抽選-room. It had been carted away during those dreadful weeks and her music all 燃やすd; but the 見通し of her graceful 人物／姿／数字 bending over the keyboard was one not to be forgotten even by a thoughtless child. Could it be—oh, heaven! if this 発言する／表明する were hers! Her 未来 was 確かな ; she had but to sing.

In a 輸送（する） of hope I 急ぐd for the 薄暗い 入り口 the children had pointed out and flew up to her room. As I reached it, I heard a trill as perfect as Tetrazzini's. The singer was Theresa; there could be no more 疑問. Theresa! 演習ing a grand 発言する／表明する as only a 広大な／多数の／重要な artist would or could.

The joy of it made me almost faint. I leaned against her door and sobbed. Then when I thought I could speak やめる calmly, I went in.

Roger, you must understand me now,—my 願望（する） for money and the means I have taken to 得る it. My sister had the makings of a prima-donna. Her husband, of whose ability I had formed so low an 見積（る）, had trained her with consummate 技術 and judgment. All she needed was a year with some 広大な／多数の／重要な maestro in the foreign atmosphere of art. But this meant money—not hundreds but thousands, and the one sure source to which we might rightfully look for any such 量 was effectually の近くにd to us. It is true we had 親族s—an aunt on our mother's 味方する, and I について言及するd her to Theresa. But she would not listen to the suggestion. She would take nothing from any one whom she would find it hard to 直面する in 事例／患者 of 失敗. Love must go with an 前進する 伴う／関わるing so much 危険; love 深い enough and strong enough to feel no loss save that of a 敗北・負かすd hope. In short, to be 許容できる, the money must come from me, and as this was manifestly impossible, she considered the 事柄 の近くにd and began to talk of a position she had been 申し込む／申し出d in some choir. I let her talk, listening and not listening; for the idea had come to me that if in some way I could earn money, she might be induced to take it. Finally, I asked her. She laughed, letting her kisses answer me. But I did not laugh. If she had 能力s in one way, I had them in another.

I went home to think.

Two weeks later, I began, in a very 静かな way to do 確かな work for the man who had helped me in my second search for Theresa. The money I have earned has been 巨大な; since it was troubles of the rich I was given to settle, and I was almost always successful. Every cent has gone to her. She has been in Europe for a year and last week she made her debut. You read about it in the papers, but neither you nor any one else in this country but myself knew that under the 指名する she chosen to assume, Theresa Strange, the long forgotten beauty, has 回復するd that place in the world, to which her love and genius する権利を与える her.

This is my story and hers. 今後, you are the third in the secret. Some day, my father will be the fourth. I think then, a new 夜明け of love will arise for us all, which will stay the whitening of his dear 長，率いる—for I believe in him after all. Yesterday when he passed the 塀で囲む where her picture once hung—no other has ever hung there—I saw him stop and look up, and, Roger, when he passed me a minute later, there was a 涙／ほころび in his hard 注目する，もくろむ.

THE END

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