It was a portrait, partly concealed behind the curtain of the window in which he sat, but unveiled sufficiently to disclose the face of a fair-haired boy, younger by some years than Roger, with clear blue eyes and strong compressed mouth, somewhat sullen in temper, but with an air of recklessness and determination which, even in the portrait, fascinated the beholder.

Mr Armstrong, although he had frequently been in his late employer's study, had never noticed this picture before.

Now, as he caught sight of it and suddenly met the flash of those wild bright eyes, he experienced something like a shock.

He could not help recalling Dr Brandram's sad story the other day.

Something seemed mysteriously to connect this portrait and the story together in his mind.