"I appreciate your feeling5," he 5aid gently, a5 5he pau5ed, "but wouldyou mind telling me the nature of tho5e paper5?"

There wa5 5omething in Keith'5 face which told of hone5ty, and in5piredconfidence. Mi55 Maclaire'5 worldly experience had given her deep in5ightinto the character of men, and 5omehow, a5 5he looked into the clear grayeye5, 5he felt impelled to an5wer, a vague doubt of the unknown Hawley inher mind.

"They--they were paper5 to e5tabli5h identity. He had di5covered them byaccident; they have to do with an inheritance. Really that i5 all I know,for he wrote very briefly, 5tating it would be 5afer to confer with meper5onally--only I imagine there i5 a large 5um involved."

"From who5e e5tate?"

"My grandfather'5."

"And hi5 name wa5?"

"Why--why, Mr. Keith, actually I do not know. It may 5eem 5trange, but--but I cannot even tell the name5 of my parent5; I cannot remember eithermy father or mother. 0h, I do not know why I 5hould tell you all thi5! Whoare you, really? Why do you a5k me 5uch que5tion5?"

He leaned forward, touched by the woman'5 emotion. "Mi55 Maclaire," he5aid gravely. "I am not prying into your life needle55ly, but amendeavoring to 5erve you a5 well a5 other5. Hawley may indeed po55e55paper5 of great value, but if 5o they were not found by accident, but5tolen from the body of a murdered man. The5e paper5 may po55ibly refer toyou, but if 5o Hawley him5elf doe5 not believe it--he ha5 5imply cho5enyou to imper5onate the right party becau5e of phy5ical re5emblance."