"To think of the time," he said, half-aloud, "that it took Miriam and me to save five hundred dollars!"
"That five hundred that you saved," commented Murgatroyd solemnly, "is worth more to you than all this eight hundred and sixty thousand."
"There's no mistake about that either, Murgatroyd," spoke up Challoner promptly; but bending over his wife, he added with a fascinating smile:—
"Miriam, you're going to let me build that hospital, aren't you?"
Simultaneously with Miriam's monosyllabic answer, Murgatroyd glanced at Challoner sharply, not forgetting, quite naturally, how easy in the past it had been for the husband to get whatever he wanted from his wife; his doubts, however, were only momentary, for presently he pushed the boxes toward them, saying:—
"There it is—it all belongs to you."
But in all this Shirley had been strangely silent.
"Mr. Murgatroyd," she now said icily, "do you mean to tell us that your only motive in taking this money was to save Mr. Challoner?"
Murgatroyd took a few steps toward her and regarded her coolly.
"No—and you alone were right. I was bribed—I was corrupt—I was a thief."