He was haggard and pale, and his eyes were cast down to the floor.
"Why, Dick, what's the matter?" asked the doctor.
"Dr. Ricketts, I have come to make a shameful confession. I—"
"Well?" said the doctor, suspiciously and impatiently, as Dick's voice faltered.
"I will not hesitate about it," said Dick, hurriedly; "I am afraid it is even now too late. I stole the diamond brooch."
"What?" exclaimed the doctor, jumping to his feet in a frenzy of indignant excitement.
"I am the cause of all this trouble. It was my fault that Mary Engle was accused and convicted, and it will be my fault if she is punished. Oh, doctor, cannot something be done to save her? I never intended it should go so far."
"You infamous scoundrel!" said the doctor, unable to restrain his scorn and contempt; "why did you not say this before? Why did you permit all this misery and shame to fall upon the defenceless head of a woman for whom an honest man should have sacrificed his very life? How was this villainy consummated? Tell me, quickly!"