“‘Yes,’ I replied, frankly, as I turned my shuddering eyes away from the sight of the bleeding corpse upon the floor.
“He was silent a moment, gazing into my eyes with a hard, mesmeric gaze, but I shuddered and looked away. He sighed, and said:
“‘I cannot bring myself to kill you, as I killed that old man in the heat of passion; you are too beautiful to destroy in wanton malice. I will reason with you, and show you why you must, in self-defense, keep the secret of this old man’s death.’
“I listened defiantly, for I was determined, if I escaped, to denounce him. My heart was burning with sympathy for the wronged girl and her murdered father.
“But the first words he uttered were these astounding ones:
“‘If you should escape and betray me, you would at once blacken your own character irretrievably.’
“I stared at him in horror and dismay, and he smiled grimly as he added:
“‘When it became known that you were here with me alone, in one of the vilest houses in Chicago—a house that no decent lady would dare to enter—what would the world say of you, Miss Mead?’
“As I gasped for breath to answer, he added, tauntingly:
“‘I fell in love with you at the Fair, and determined to make you my own. Fate played into my hands, and I succeeded in fooling you into this house, and I never meant to let you go until I had wearied of my new toy. That wine was drugged, and I would have forced it down your throat only for the entrance of that old man! Well, I have no time to linger in love’s dalliance now! I must escape before this crime is found out. I must let you go, lovely one, still pure and innocent. That is,’ darkly, ‘if you will promise to let me go free and keep your lips sealed on the events of this night. Refuse, and—you are still in my power!’