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CHAPTER I

MALICIOUSLY ACCUSED

"Let them think what they like. If I had died I would have been a

hero; because I lived I suppose there is nothing in the history

of crime that I have not committed."

Young Captain Code Schofield sprang out of the deep, luxurious

chair and began to pace up and down before the fire. He did not

cast as much as a glance at the woman near him. His mind was

elsewhere. He had heard strange things in this talk with her.

"Well, captain, you know how it is on an island like this. The

tiny thing of everyday life becomes a subject for a day's

discussion. That affair of six months ago was like dropping a

tombstone in a mud-puddle--everything is profoundly stirred, but

no one gets spattered except the one who dropped it. In this case

yourself."