I will invoke her wrath upon you in this hour if you do not confess the truth to me fully and entirely." "Ask," Hermon interrupted in a hollow tone.

"Only, you strange woman--" "Only," she hastily broke in, "whatever the answer may be, I must pose to you as the model for your Arachne--and perhaps it may come to that--but first I must know, briefly and quickly, for they will be looking for me immediately.

Do you love Daphne ?" "No," he answered positively.

"True, she has been dear to me from childhood--" "And," Althea added, completing the sentence, "you owe her father a debt of gratitude.

But that is not new to me; I know also how little reason you gave her for loving you.