if struggling to regain possession of himself; then he dropped into his
chair again, shielding his face from the light with his hands. Gurdon
could see that his companion's face had turned to a ghastly grey.
Veritably it was a night of surprises, quick, dramatic surprises,
following close upon one another's heels.

"What, do you mean to say you know her, too?" Gurdon whispered.

Venner looked up with a strange, unsteady smile on his face. He appeared
to be fighting hard to regain his self-control.

"Indeed, I do know her," he said. "My friend, you are going to have all
the surprises you want. What will you say when I tell you that the girl
who sits there, utterly unconscious of my presence, and deeming me to be
at the other end of the world, is no less a person than--my own wife?"




CHAPTER II

THE FIRST FINGER


Gurdon waited for his companion to go on. It was a boast of his that he
had exhausted most of the sensations of life, and that he never allowed
anything to astonish him. All the same, he was astonished now, and
surprised beyond words. For the last twenty-five years, on and off, he
had known Venner. Indeed, there had been few secrets between them since
the day when they had come down from Oxford together. From time to time,