“I know,” said Kelly.

With a slight effort she went on.  “He—­Burke—­thinks otherwise.  And because of that, he won’t let me see Guy again.  He is very angry with me—­I doubt if he will ever really forgive me—­for following Guy to this place.  But,—­Mr. Kelly,—­I had a reason—­an urgent reason for doing this.  I hoped to be back again before he found out; but everything was against me.”

“Ah!  Didn’t I know it?” said Kelly.  “It’s the way of the world in an emergency.  Nothing ever goes right of itself.”

She smiled rather wanly.  “Life can be—­rather cruel,” she said.  “Something is working against me.  I can feel it.  I have forfeited all Burke’s respect and his confidence at a stroke.  He will never trust me again.  And Guy—­Guy will simply go under.”

“No—­no!” said Kelly.  “Don’t you believe it!  He’ll come round and lead a decent life after this; you’ll see.  There’s nothing whatever to worry about over Guy.  No real vice in him!”

It was a kindly lie, stoutly spoken; but it failed to convince.  Sylvia shook her head even while, he was speaking.

“You don’t know all yet.  I haven’t told you.  But I will tell you—­if you will listen.  Once when Burke and I were talking of Guy—­it was almost the first time—­he said that he had done almost everything bad except one thing.  He had never robbed him.  And somehow I felt that so long as there was that one great exception he would not regard him as utterly beyond redemption.  But now—­but now—­” her voice quivered again—­“well, even that can’t be said of him now,” she said.

“What?  He has taken money?” Kelly looked at her in swift dismay.  “Ye don’t mean that!” he said.  And then quickly:  “Are ye sure now it wasn’t Kieff?”

“Yes.”  She spoke with dreary conviction.  “I am fairly sure Kieff’s at the back of it, but—­it was Guy who did it, thanks to my carelessness.”

“Yours!” Kelly’s eyes bulged.  “Ye don’t mean that!” he said again.

“Yes, it’s true.”  Drearily she answered him.  “Burke left the key of the strong-box in my keeping on the day of the sand-storm.  I dropped it in the dark.  I was hunting for it when you came.  Then—­I forgot it.  Afterwards, you remember, Burke and Guy came in together.  He must have found it—­somehow—­then.”

“He did!” said Kelly suddenly.  “Faith, he did!  Ye remember when he had that attack?  He picked up something then—­on the floor against his foot.  I saw him do it, the fool that I am!  He’d got it in his hand when we helped him up, and I never noticed,—­never thought.  The artful young devil!”

A hint of admiration sounded in his voice.  Kelly the simple-minded had ever been an admirer of art.