the great sin which they revealed, but that is all the effect they would
have had.

When it came to his wife, however, that was another question. For a
moment he felt like sending in his resignation and moving out of Milton
as soon as possible. But he finally decided that he ought to remain; and
Mrs. Strong did not oppose his decision when once he had declared his
resolve. She knew Philip must do what to him was the will of his Master,
and with that finally she was content.

She had overcome her nervousness and dread now that Philip's courageous
presence strengthened her, and she began to tell him that he had better
hunt for the man who had appeared so mysteriously in the study.

"I haven't convinced myself yet that there is any man. Confess, Sarah,
that you dreamed all that."

"I did not," replied his wife, a little indignantly. "Do you think I
wrote those letters and stuck that knife into the desk myself?"

"Of course not. But how could a man get into the study and neither you
nor the girl know it."

"I did hear a noise, and that is what started me upstairs. And he may be
in the house yet. I shall not rest easy until you look into all the
closets and down cellar and everywhere."

So Philip, to quiet his wife, searched the house thoroughly, but found
nothing. The servant and the minister's wife followed along at a
respectful distance behind Philip, one armed with the poker and the