صفحة 5 من 416

"You haven't heard the last of the May Schofield, and you won't

until you lay the ghost that has come out of its grave. But

whatever you do or wherever you are, I want you to remember that

I stand ready to help you in every way I can. All this"--she

swept her arm about the richly furnished room--"is worthless to

me now that Jim is gone, unless I can do some good for those I

like. Please, Code, will you feel free to call on me if you need

help?"

The flush that had receded returned with a flood of color that

made his face beneath its fair hair appear very dark.

"Really, Elsa," he stammered, "that's awfully handsome of you,

but I hope things won't go so far as that. I can never forget

what you have said."

Elsa Mallaby had always been like that to him. Even when she

married "Hard-Luck" Jim Mallaby she had always seemed to regard

Code Schofield as the one man in Freekirk Head. But Jim, being

too busy with his strange affairs, had not noticed.