It was she who must determine for him how to proceed; how far to defend himself.

He had hoped that by now Dick Butler might have been got away, so that it would have been safe to tell the whole truth, although he began to doubt how far that could avail him, how far, indeed, it would be believed in the absence of Dick Butler.

Her evidence told him that such hopes as he may have entertained had been idle, and that he must depend for his life simply upon the court's inability to bring the guilt home to him.

In this he had some confidence, for, knowing himself innocent, it seemed to him incredible that he could be proven guilty.

Failing that, nothing short of the discovery of the real slayer of Samoval could save him--and that was a matter wrapped in the profoundest mystery.