in his chosen profession and had attained a reputation as an insanity expert. He had seen very little of the Normans, for he had no time for society.
Doctor Reed, Norman's family physician, had called him in consultation that morning. Mrs. Norman had not left her room for two months. She had taken a peculiar aversion to her husband, screaming and becoming hysterical if he attempted to touch her, then lying in a state of semiconsciousness for hours after.
"I believe her condition due to shock," Doctor Reed had vouchsafed, "but I frankly admit that is as far as I can get. Mr. Norman says it cannot possibly be through any fault of his, so I can come to only one conclusion, that the aversion is simply obsession of an unbalanced mind."
While he was making his examination, Mrs. Norman had seized an opportune moment to whisper frantically:
"Send them all away. I will talk to you. Oh, King, please-"
Her voice had trailed off in a piteous little quiver.
He nodded his head understandingly without stopping in his deft movements. Again she lay quiet, but her wonderful eyes never left his face. When he had finished, he turned and spoke a few words to the doctor and nurse. They went out and left him alone with his patient.
Then it was he had listened to one of the most tragic stories that ever fell from human lips. One could scarcely imagine anything so hideous.
"OH, KING, only make me well," she had added. "I must leave this house. I have begged and implored him to tear down that east wing. It has always been a bone of contention between us, but he only laughed at me. And now that I know, I can't go on living but I was to for when he saw me he gave me such a push that it almost sent me to the floor. He was bitterly angry. When he removed his coat a moment later to put on his smoking jacket, I picked it up to hang it upon a rack. The box was gone from the pocket." under this roof. I couldn't tell this to strangers. They would only think me mad. They would not believe me, but it is the truth of the thing that is killing me. I know I am right, and yet it war hard to believe my own eyes. Please find a way to help me. It is Dick who is insane, and you must save him, save him from himself. Will you promise me?"
Once again Doctor Wayland was the mere man, and his face worked with emotion as he leaned over the woman he had loved-yes, still loved-and gave her his promise.
"I'll find a way, Anne, but I'm doing it for you, not for him."
For a moment she lay back, breathing deeply, and then the wan, face relaxed into a relieved smile.
"Thanks, King," she whispered; "but wait, I must tell you more. Just behind that massive bookcase in Dick's study is a door leading into the wing. It is fastened with an intricate lock which even a locksmith cannot open. I have had two try it."
"Were you always curious about the east wing?"
"Curious? Yes, but never suspicious until things happened recently to make me so. At first he told me he was using it as a laboratory, and owing to the deadly nature of the chemicals no one must enter it but himself. That satisfied me, until one evening I caught the lettering on a big package he carried into the house. It was after the lamps were lighted, but as I was standing in the shadows he failed to see me as he passed through the study. That package bore the name of a prominent women's furnishing goods house.
"At another time I saw him buy a diamond necklace and give a small for tune for it. I stepped quickly behind a convenient screen in the jewelry store, for as the next day was my birthday I supposed it was for me. I managed to make my escape and reached home before he did. On his arrival I met him at the door. He caressed me carelessly, and I felt the box in his pocket. He entered his study hurriedly, saying he had moment later. The study was empty.
"I knew he had gone into the east wing. I waited just outside the mysterious door. I was determined to get a glimpse into the room as he came out, for when he saw me he gave me such a push that it almost sent me to the floor. He was bitterly angry. When he removed his coat a moment later to put on his smoking jacket, I picked it up to hang it upon a rack. The box was gone from the pocket.
"You are sure?"
"Yes. It was a large velvet case. I could not be mistaken. Since then I have seen thousands of dollars' worth of jewels and women's wearing apparel go into that room. Once I thought the place must be his rendezvous with other women, and the last time he went to New York I had workmen search for an underground entrance, but after two days they gave it up. I went on pondering and waiting, and at last my opportunity came.
"One night, on passing through the grounds after attending a club meeting, I noticed a tiny shaft of light from a wing window splitting the darkness out side. Without an instant's hesitation, I pulled one of the lawn seats under the window, and climbing upon it I glued my eye to the slit in the heavy green blind that seemed to be nailed to the casing all around the window, so closely did it fit. Then I saw it.
"At last I understood. I had the presence of mind to draw the seat back to its place. I staggered a few steps and fainted. The chauffeur found me and carried me in. No one ever knew what had happened. I haven't left my room since. Oh, King, if he ever puts his hands on me again, I believe I shall die."
A SHIVER of repulsion shook the woman's whole frame. She lay back among her pillows like a delicate flower broken from the mother plant. So thought the man who watched her.
Impulsively he got to his feet. He had come to another one of his habitual quick decisions.
"Anne, I will do everything I can for you. The story you have told me is almost unbelievable, and I can understand how you could not tell it to a stranger. I will investigate. In the meantime I will tell your husband that he must stay away from you if he hopes for your recovery. I will make arrangements for my assistants to take charge of my practice and I will stay in the house for a few days."
Her nervous fingers crept up his arm.
"Oh, King, will you do this?"
He smiled reassuringly into her upturned eager face.
"Yes. If such an unreal thing is possible, I will find it out."
She settled back again with a long drawn sigh of relief, and her closely drawn lips relaxed.
He called the nurse and went directly to Norman in his study.
"You are leaving your wife's case absolutely in my hands?" he asked abruptly.
Richard Norman looked up from the book he was reading and gazed meditatively at his old friend for a moment before he answered.
"Wayland, I know your reputation, and of course I value your opinion. If you think it is best, the case is in your hands. What have you to tell me?"
"Not much, but I want the privilege of remaining in the house a few days in constant attendance. In the meantime I want you to humor her. Keep out of her sight entirely."
The man before him winced, but he went on:
"Keep yourself out of the house as much as possible. Do not let her even
