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“Lockit！“sheimplored。
Heturneddownthelatchanddrewthebolt。Thesoundseemedtogiveheralittlecourage。Herfingerswenttoherthroatforamoment。
“Givemesomewater。“
Hepouredoutsomesoda-water。Shedrankonlyosipandputitdownagain。Hebegantobealarmed。Shehadtheappearanceofonewhohassuddenlylosthersenses。
“Pleasetellmejustwhathashappened？“hebegged。“IfIcanhelpinanyway，youknowIwill。Butyoumusttellme。Doyourealisethatitisthreeo’clock？Ishouldhavebeeninbed，onlyIwenttosleepoverthefirehere。“
“Iknow，“sheanswered。“Itisjustthewindthathastakenawaymybreath。Itwasahardstruggletogethere。Listen-youareourfriend，Mr。Hamel-Esther’sandmine？Swearthatyouareourfriend？“
“Uponmyhonour，Iam，“heassuredher。“Youshouldknowthat。“
“Foreightyears，“shewenton，hervoiceclearenoughnow，althoughitseemedchargedwithacuriousmetallicvibration，“foreightyearswe’veborneit，allthreeofus，slaves，boundhandandfoot，lashedwithhistongue，drivenalongthepathofhisdesires。Wehaveseenevilthings。Wehavebeenonthepointofrebellion，andhe’scomealittlenearerandhe’spointedback。Hehastakenmebythehand，andIhavewalkedbythesideofhischair，loathingit，loathingmyself，outontotheterraceanddownbelow，justwhereithappened。Youknowwhathappenedthere，Mr。Hamel？“
“YoumeanwhereMr。Fentolinmetwithhisaccident。“
“Itwasnoaccident！“shecried，glancingforamomentaroundher。
“Itwasnoaccident！Itwasmyhusbandwhotookhimupandthrewhimovertheterrace，downbelow；myhusbandwhotriedtokillhim；
Esther’sfather-Gerald’sfather！MileswasintheForeignOfficethen，andhedidsomethingdisgraceful。HesoldasecrettoAustria。
Hewasalwaysagreatgambler，andhewasindebt。Seymourfoundoutaboutit。Hefollowedhimdownhere。Theymetupontheterrace。
I-Isawit！“
Hewassilentforamoment。
“Noonehasknownthetruth，“hemurmured。
“Noonehaseverknown，“sheassented，“andourbrokenliveshavebeentheprice。ItwasMileshimselfwhomadethebargain。We-wecan’tgoon，Mr。Hamel。“
“Ibegintounderstand，“Hamelsaidsoftly。“YousuffereverythingfromMilesFentolinbecausehekeptthesecret。Verywell，thatbelongstothepast。Somethinghashappened，somethingto-night，whichhasbroughtyouhere。Tellmeaboutit？“
Oncemorehervoicebegantoshake。
“We’ves
