Chapter 30
Silently the two men faced each other. Then Ernest hissed:
"Thief!"
Reginald shrugged his shoulders.
"Vampire!"
"So Ethel has infected you with her absurd fancies! Poor boy! I
am afraid… . I have been wanting to tell you for some time… . But I
think… . We have reached the parting of our road!"
"And that you dare to tell me!"
The more he raged, the calmer Reginald seemed to become.
"Really," he said, "I fail to understand… . I must ask you to
leave my room!"
"You fail to understand? You cad!" Ernest cried. He stepped to
the writing-table and opened the secret drawer with a blow. A
bundle of manuscripts fell on the floor with a strange rustling noise. Then, seizing his own story,
he hurled it upon the table. And behold—the last pages bore
corrections in ink that co
