wife recovered from her fainting fit after he had applied restoratives.
His heart was filled with horror at the thought of the complete
cowardice which could threaten the life of an innocent woman. There was
with it all a feeling of intense contempt of such childish, dime-novel
methods of intimidation as that of sticking a knife into the study desk.
If it had not been for its effect on his wife, Philip would have laughed
at the whole thing. As it was, he was surprised and alarmed that she had
fainted--a thing he had never known her to do; and as soon as she was
able to speak he listened anxiously to her story.

"It must have been an hour after you had gone, Philip, that I thought I
heard a noise upstairs, and thinking perhaps you had left one of your
windows down at the top and the curtain was flapping, I went right up,
and the minute I stepped into the room I had the feeling that some one
was there."

"Didn't you carry up a light?"

"No. The lamp was burning at the end of the upper hall, and so I never
thought of needing more. Well, as I moved over toward the window, still
feeling that strange, unaccountable knowledge of some one there, a man
stepped out from behind your desk, walked right up to me and held out
those letters in one hand, while with the other he threw the light from
a small bull's-eye or burglar's lantern upon them."

Philip listened in amazement.

"Sarah, you must have dreamed all that! It isn't likely that any man
would do such a thing!"