MYSELF AND MY STEPMOTHER
I Saw then what a man's face may look like when he is stricken with a sudden paralysing fear. I saw my father sit in his chair and shake from head to foot. Ray's black eyes seemed to be flashing upon us all the most unutterable scorn.
"What is this pleasant meeting which I seem to have interrupted, eh?" he asked, with fierce sarcasm. "Quite a family reunion!"
My stepmother, very pale, but very calm, answered him.
"To which you," she said, "come an uninvited guest."
He laughed harshly.
"You shall have others, other uninvited guests, before many hours are past," he declared. "You remember my warning, Ducaine."
My father seemed to me to be on the eve of a collapse. His lips moved, and he mumbled something, but the words were wholly unintelligible. Ray turned to
