so long that sometimes I think I am really going crazy, as they seem to wish me to!"
"You must not excite yourself," returned Franklin, quietly. "Now I have learned of this matter, I will be your friend, and will do what I can for you."
"Oh, thank you. May I ask your name?"
"Franklin told her, and then a long conversation followed, all of the particulars of which cannot be given here. Mrs. Bliss admitted that she had no further proofs of her brother's death than what Montague Smith had said, nor could she prove anything to Belden Brice's discredit, much to the young electrician's relief. She knew that Montague Smith was a villain for having had her kept a prisoner, and in her peculiar state of mind fancied that all of the men with whom he had dealings were as bad as himself.
Franklin listened closely to all she had to say, and then told her part of his own story. She wished him to send for Walter Robinson, and this he promised to do, and he also decided in his own mind to notify Belden Brice without delay of his discoveries. The speculator might feel put out to think he had dabbled in his private affairs, but this could not be helped.
When Franklin was ready to leave, he hardly knew what to do. If the servant girl below should tell Fipher of his visit, the man might cause Mrs.
