"I cannot believe you, Mr. Prale! The proof was there!"
"And who furnished it?" he demanded. "Who is handling this campaign of vengeance against me now?"
"You scarcely can expect me to tell you that," she said. "I am done—have nothing more to do with the affair—but I am not going to be a traitor, as you were!"
"If you ever are convinced, Miss Gilbert, that I am entirely innocent, that somebody has put this stain upon me for their own reasons, can I count upon your friendship?"
"Convince me that injustice has been done you, Mr. Prale, and I'll do everything in my power to make amends—and so will all the others!"
"Thanks for that assurance," Prale said. "I am going to clear myself in your eyes, and in the eyes of the others. I remember the details of that big deal perfectly and I shall know how to start to work."
"I cannot understand this," she said. "You speak as if you were indeed innocent, but I cannot believe it!"
"I am innocent!"
"If so, who is guilty?"
"That is what I intend finding out."