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Show -r; nave Navsr Listened to tw- , ' rible a Recital In My Life." noon. We went to a tea-shop together. She told me the story of his career. I have never listened to so horrible a recital ln my life." "And yet they are here together, din-' din-' Ing tete-a-tete, on a night when It must have needed more than ordinary courage cour-age for either of them to have been seen ln public at all," Wllinore pointed out "It Is as astounding to me as It is to you." Francis confessed. "From the way she spoke, I should never have dreamed that they were living together." to-gether." "And from his appenrance," Wllmore remarked, as he called the. waiter to bring some cigarettes, "I should never have Imagined that he was anything else save a hlKh-princlpled, well-bora straightforward sort of chap. I never aw a less criminal type of face." They each In turn glanced at the subject sub-ject of their discussion. Oliver Hit-ditch's Hit-ditch's good looks had been the subject of many press comments during the last few days. They were certainly . undeniable. His face whs a little lined, but his hair was thick and brown, tils . features were regular, his forehed high and thoughtful, his mouth a trifle thin but straight and shnpely. Fronds gazed at him like a man en (ran red The hours seemed fo have slipped away. He was back ln the tea simp. . listening to the womnn who tpoke of terrible tilings. He felt again his shivering shiv-ering abhorrence of her cold, clearly aarruted story. Agiiln he shrunk from the horrors from which with merciless fingers she hud stripped the coverings. , He seemed to see once more the agony In her white fure, to hear the eternal pain nelilng and throbbing In her monotonous mo-notonous tone. He rose suddenly to , hU feet. "Andrew,'.' he begged, "tell the fellow fel-low to lulng the bill outside. We'll have our coffee and liqueurs there." Wllnture ncquiesced willingly enough, but even as they turned towards the door Francis realized whnt was In store for him. Oliver ilifdltch hud risen to his feet. With a courteous little geHtcre he Intercepted the pnss-erby. pnss-erby. Francis found himself standing nld9 by side with the man fur whose life he hud pleaded that afternoon, within s few feet of the woman whose terrible story seemed to have poisoned the very atmosphere he breathed, to hnve shown him a new horror In Pfe, to have temporarily, at any rate, mi- dernilned every Joy nnd ambition he possessed. "Mr. Letlsam." Illbiltrh said, speak-Infc- with quiet dignity, "1 hope that yo.j will forgive the liberty I take In spt-iiklng to you here. I looked for you the moment I was free tills afternoon, after-noon, but found that yon had left the court. 1 owe you my good name, prol-ably prol-ably my life. Thanks are poor things but they must be spoken." j Toil owe me nothing nt nil." Francis Fran-cis replied. In a tone which even be found harsh. "I hnd a brief before me nnd a cause to le,i 1. It was a i hauler out ef my dL'j? woeev" with a murmured word of polite assent. as-sent. Outside, he found Wllmore deep ln tno discussion of the merits of various va-rious old brandies with an Interested maltre d'hotel, "Any choice, Francis?" his host Inquired. In-quired. "None whatever," was the prompt reply, "only, for God's sake, give me a double one quickly I" The two men were on the point of departure when Oliver Hlldltch nnd his wife left the restaurant. As though conscious that they had become the subject of discussion; as Indeed wss the case, thanks to the busy whispering of the varlous waiters, they pnssed without lingering through the lounge Into the entrance hall, where Francis and Andrew Wllmore were already al-ready waiting for a tnxleab. Almost as they appeared, a new arrival was ushered through the main entrance, followed by porters carrying luggage. He brushed past Francis so closely that the latter looked Into his face, half attracted and half repelled by the waxen-like complexion, the piercing pierc-ing eyes, and the dignified carriage of the man whose arrival seemed to be creating some stir ln the hotel. A reception re-ception clerk and a deputy manager had already hastened forward. The newcomer waved them back for a moment. Pareheaded, he had taken Margaret llildltrh's hands ln his nnd raised them to his lips. "I came as quickly as I could," he said. "There was the usual delny, of course, at Marseilles, and the trains on were terrible. So all has ended well." Oliver Hlldltch, standing by. remained re-mained speechless. It seemed for a moment as though his self-control were subjected to a severe strain. "I had the good fortune," he Interposed, Inter-posed, In a low tone, "to be wonderfully wonder-fully defended, Mr. I.edsam here ". He glanced around. Francis, with some Idea of whnt was coming, obeyed nn Itnnglnnry summons from the bead porter, touched Andrew Wllmore upon the shoulder, and hastened without backward glance through the swing doors. Wllmore turned up bis coat collar and looked doubtfully up at the rain. "I say, old chap," he protested, "you don't really mean to walk?" Francis thrust his hand through his friend's arm and wheeled him round into Pavls street. "I don't care what the mischief we' cio, Andrew," he conilded, "hut couldn't you see what was going to happen? Oliver Hlldltch was going to Introduce me ns his preserver to the man who had Just arrived !" "Are you aflllcted with modesty, all of a sudden?" Wllmore grumbled. "No, remorse," was the terse re-Ply. re-Ply. CHAPTER III Indecision had never been one of Francis Ledsarn's faults, but four times during the following day he wrote out a carefully worded telegraphic telegraph-ic message to Mrs. Oliver Iilldltch, |