“I’m so glad—not only for father’s sake—but for your sake,” she cried chokingly.
“Let me tell you at once! Let me get it out of myself!”
“First sit down,” and she gently pressed him back into his chair and drew one up to face him. “And wait for a moment or two, till you feel a little calmer.”
He bowed his head into his hands, and for a space breathed deeply and tremulously. Katherine stood waiting. Through the night sounded the brassy strains of “My Country ’Tis of Thee.” Back at the Court House Blake’s party was opening its great mass-meeting.
“I’m a coward—a coward!” Doctor Sherman groaned at length into his hands. And in a voice of utmost contrition he went on and told how, to gain money for the proper care of Elsie, he had been drawn into gambling in stocks; how he had made use of church funds to save himself in a falling market, and how this church money had, like his own, been swallowed down by Wall Street; how Blake had discovered the embezzlement, for the time had saved him, but later by threat of exposure had driven him to play the part he had against Doctor West.
“You must make this statement public, instantly!” Katherine exclaimed when he had finished.
He shrank back before that supreme humiliation. “Let me do it later—please, please!” he besought her.
“A day’s delay will be——” She caught his arm. “Listen!” she commanded.
Both held their breath. Through the night came the stirring music of “The Star Spangled Banner.”
“What is that?” he asked.