"I--I am a lonely woman; I have neither husband nor child; you have interested me"-- her voice sank for a moment--"Yes, tell me.

I--I may help you----" "I'm afraid I'm beyond even your help," said Derrick; "but this is how it is." He told her the story of the forged cheque, suppressing all names, and Donna Elvira listened, as immovable as a statue, looking straight before her, her brows drawn, her lips set.

She sighed as he finished, and said, "The woman you did this for--you cared for her ?" "I did, at one time--or, I thought I did," said Derrick; "but, when I met that other girl, the girl who stepped in like an angel and saved me from suicide, I cared for her no longer.

It was as if she had gone out of my life, out of my heart, and another woman had stepped into her place.

Do you understand, Donna Elvira ?" "It is not difficult," she said, with a faint smile.