"I left Dudley this afternoon feeling ready to cut my throat.

Now I'm a free man, with the world before me." "How's that ?" "Emily's going to take a second husband--that's one thing." "Heaven be praised! Better than one could have looked for." Hilliard related the circumstances.

Then he drew from his pocket an oblong slip of paper, and held it out.
"Dengate ?" cried his friend.

"How the deuce did you get hold of this ?" Explanation followed.

They debated Dengate's character and motives.
"I can understand it," said Narramore.