It is so important that I should not betray George--it would
be so inexcusable on my part if his interests suffered, even
accidentally, in my hands.
This was a trying day for our guest. Her few trifling indoor
resources had, as I could see, begun to lose their attractions
for her at last. If we were not now getting to the end of the
stories, and to the end, therefore, of the Ten Days also, our
chance of keeping her much longer at the Glen Tower would be a
very poor one.
It was, I think, a great relief for us all to be summoned
together this evening for a definite purpose. The wind had fallen
a little as it got on toward dusk. To hear it growing gradually
fainter and fainter in the valley below added immeasurably to the
comforting influence of the blazing fire and the cheerful lights
when the shutters were closed for the night.
The number drawn happened to be the last of the series--Ten--and
the last also of the stories which I had written. There were now
but two numbers left in the bowl. Owen and Morgan had each one
reading more to accomplish before our guest's stay came to an
end, and the manuscripts in the Purple Volume were all exhausted.
"This new story of mine," I said, "is not, like the story I last
read, a narrative of adventure happening to myself, but of
adventures that happened to a lady of my acquaintance.
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