bills handed me by Vail.  For an instant I failed to realize their significance, and then the recollection of my own engagement came swiftly back.  At first the memory was a disgust; the very presence of the girl, and her tale of struggle, made me realize the sordidness of this plot in which I was involved.  Somehow it struck me then as a dirty, underhanded scheme.  Yet, as I reviewed the details, this conception largely vanished.  We were defrauding no one, merely protecting a man helpless to protect himself, backed by legal advice, as well as by the desire of the administrators of the will.  The comparatively large sum of money offered me for the service was not excessive considering the amount involved, or the way in which I physically resembled the party represented.  The feeling of resentment died away, but I doubted if she could be made to look at it in the same light.  I glanced across to where she sat, the gray dawn giving me clear view.  Her head rested back upon one arm, and she was asleep.  Uncomfortable as she looked, she was still resting, the tired lines of her face less noticeable.  I had no heart to awaken her, and remained motionless, thinking it all over carefully in detail.

We remained undisturbed, our settee removed from the main pathway, along which a few early workmen passed.  She was the very one to act the part of Philip Henley’s wife, if she would consent.  Her refinement, the clear innocence of her face, would be convincing, and I began already to long for her company.  Yet she would have to be told every detail, convinced the apparent fraud was justifiable.  I rather dreaded the look in her eyes when she first heard the proposal, and her questioning me.  While I still hesitated, fearful of refusal, the sun shining upon her face awoke her suddenly.  She straightened up instantly, but her eyes smiled as they met mine.

“I was asleep,” she said in surprise.  “For how long?”

“Nearly two hours.”

“And you have sat there quietly all that time?”

“That is nothing.  I was tired, but not sleepy.  Besides, I had so much to think about.”

“You mean regarding what you shall do with me,” and she arose to her feet.  “It is time now I did something for myself.”

“Wait, please,” and I extended my hand, almost forcing her back upon the settee.  “Let me say a word first before you decide to go.  All I told you last night about myself is true, with one exception.  I have money, and profitable work in view—­see!” and I held before her the two bills.

She gazed at them with wide-open eyes, half convinced of some legerdemain.

“A thousand dollars,” she exclaimed bewildered. “You! why, what does it all mean?”

“Yes, and nine thousand more promised, when I complete work that ought not to require to exceed two months.  I was not without money in the restaurant, only I could not ask the cashier to change so large a bill.  Sit down again, please, and let me tell you the story.”