I am a sham; a cheat," a trifle of bitterness in the tone.

"You will learn all that some day, and laugh at yourself.

Oh, I know you will; so not another word, sir.

I am going; then, perhaps, you will." There was a slight pressure of her fingers, and she had vanished so quickly I could only stare blindly along the deserted passage.

Yet, an instant later, the peril of my predicament flashed back upon my mind, and I faced the immediate necessity for action.