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There he paused for a moment, feeling that he was on the brink of

a discovery that would either make or mar his life. Then he

thrust the door open and entered.

On a heap of sacking in the far corner was lying the dead body of

a man dressed in a coarse shirt and a pair of blue trousers. A

spotted handkerchief had been placed over the face. A coarse

candle, stuck in a bottle, sputtered beside it.

Dorian Gray shuddered. He felt that his could not be the hand to

take the handkerchief away, and called out to one of the

farm-servants to come to him.

"Take that thing off the face. I wish to see it," he said,

clutching at the door-post for support.

When the farm-servant had done so, he stepped forward. A cry of

joy broke from his lips. The man who had been shot in the thicket

was James Vane.

He stood there for some minutes looking at the dead body. As he

rode home, his eyes were full of tears, for he knew he was safe.

CHAPTER XIX.