double ruff if you had returned a heart." "I was
bound to clear the trumps." They were hot and angry
about it.

"How could you?" cried the doctor severely. "It
was criminal."

"You forget that I have only learned how I stand
to-day." He put his two hands to his temples and
pressed them convulsively. "You are a man of the
world, Dr. Selby. You have seen or heard of such
things before. Give me some advice. I'm in your
hands. It is all very sudden and horrible, and I
don't think I am strong enough to bear it."

The doctor's heavy brows thickened into two
straight lines, and he bit his nails in perplexity.

"The marriage must not take place."

"Then what am I to do?"

"At all costs it must not take place."

"And I must give her up?"

"There can be no question about that."

The young man took out a pocketbook and drew from
it a small photograph, holding it out towards the