mrs. pelham odin might well exclaim. gerald and tod were silent from sheer amazement, even though the first might have expected to see one girl the double of the other. in that box of an office, and in the somewhat dim light that filtered through the dingy window, mavis and charity appeared to be exactly alike. miss bird was also plainly dressed in a dark frock, so as not to attract attention from tod's clerks, and this, along with the thrown-back veils, completed the resemblance. the two girls had similar eyes and hair, and complexion and cast of face, and even mrs. pelham odin found it difficult to distinguish one from the other, long as she had known her adopted daughter.

"it is like a dream," she declared--"girofla-girofle in real life. oh, that i were in management again: what a chance for a play, a serious play, which has to do with twins."

"what we are engaged in is serious enough," said gerald, sitting down. "my dear mavis, this is mrs. pelham odin, who is going to take charge of you until we can prove your innocence."

mavis shook hands with the old actress. "and you don't believe that i am guilty?" she asked, in a whisper.

for answer mrs. pelham odin embraced and kissed her. "my dear," she said amiably, "truth looks out of your eyes."

"out of my eyes, i think," said charity. "mr. haskins, this is really amazing. i never thought to find my double. it seems uncanny. tod, you will be marrying mavis instead of me."

"no," said tod slowly, and looking from one girl to the other, "there is a difference."

"meaning that mavis is more charming than i am. thank you."

"oh no," broke in miss durham, "i am only an ignorant country girl, but you are clever and polished and----"

"and quite perfect," ended charity, kissing mavis as mrs. pelham odin had done, and with the same kindness, "let us hope that i am, in tod's eyes. this is tod, mavis; he is to be my husband."

"at last," gasped macandrew sentimentally.

gerald displayed impatience. "had we not better get to business?" he observed. "these girls are so alike that i don't want them to be seen together, lest trouble comes of it."

"and trouble will come," said mrs. pelham odin, who had not yet got over her amazement. "as charity says, this line-for-line resemblance is uncanny. i hope your veils are thick enough, my dears. if anyone saw you two together, the wonderful resemblance would certainly be commented upon, and might get to major rebb's ears."

charity looked long and earnestly at mavis. "we must be sisters. can you remember ever having a sister, mavis?"

"no. nor did major rebb ever say that i had one. he brought me, as he said, from bombay, some time after my mother died, and ever since i have been shut up in the pixy's house."

"i was born at simla," said charity thoughtfully, "at least the ayah who sold me to the juggler's wife declared that i was. i don't remember anything about it, of course. mother----"

"oh, don't ask me, my dear. i can explain nothing. you know what i know, and it is strange that both you and mavis should have been born in india. that fact, and the resemblance, certainly points to some relationship between you."

"they are sisters," declared haskins firmly, "in no other way can the likeness be accounted for."

"and yet there is a difference," said tod, for the second time. "it is in the tone of the voice, and in the look of the eyes."

"quite so," said charity swiftly. "my voice has been trained for the stage and mavis' has not. i have been brought up in the world and mavis out of it, which fully accounts for the innocence looking out from her eyes and the worldly wickedness in mine."

"my dear," said mrs. pelham odin, displeased, "how you rattle on. but i rather agree with you, i must say. if mavis had been brought up as you, and you as mavis, you would simply have changed places. i hope that i make myself clear."

"as clear as the murky darkness of this twin mystery can be made clear until major rebb confesses. meanwhile, and until we can force that man's hand, we had better arrange what has to be done." it was gerald who spoke.

mrs. pelham odin patted mavis' hand, which she was holding in her own very fondly. "i lose one daughter to find another," she said cheerily. "mavis can come back with me to my flat, and can wear some dresses which charity has left behind. then i'll teach her to dance, and in a couple of days she will be able to replace charity at the belver."

"you are quite willing?" gerald asked miss bird anxiously.

"of course i am," she answered quickly. "i am quite on your side."

"remember that mavis is accused of being a lunatic and a murderess."

"i know. my mother told me. but i don't believe it for one moment. i would as soon think myself capable of committing a crime."

"i say the same," said mrs. pelham odin. "i told you, mr. haskins, that i would wait until i saw mavis before deciding. now that i have seen her, i disbelieve all that major rebb says. and moreover, since the likeness is even stronger than you said between these two girls, i can promise you that the plot will be carried out safely."

gerald hesitated. "will mavis dare to face the footlights?"

mavis herself replied, and the brave blood of her soldier father flamed in her cheeks as his courage shone in her eyes. "i shall dare anything for your sake, gerald," she declared, without faltering. "and bellaria has taught me to dance--poor bellaria!" she ended sadly.

"it will be all right," said mrs. pelham odin, who had been watching the girl critically. "it is a risk, of course, but as there is only one dance, and the child has courage, i do not think she will experience stage fright. i can teach her the dance."

"no," interposed charity quickly. "let me do that. mavis can come veiled to my lodgings, which are now at kensington, and i can show her all the steps and tricks and manner necessary. i swear that when she is dressed as i was in the moon-fay, and dances as i shall teach her, no one will be a bit the wiser. and my engagement ends in a week or so; and it will not be necessary for her to continue to appear."

mrs. pelham odin nodded. "you must keep yourself quiet, charity. no one must see you at kensington. i can trust my old dresser, with whom i placed you there. to-night and to-morrow night you can go to the theatre, as usual. on the third night mavis can appear."

"and i shall see after charity meanwhile," said tod eagerly; "in five days we can get married, and i have bought a special license, so that no banns need be put up. then we can go abroad."

"but, tod," said gerald, somewhat dismayed, although he might have expected this course of conduct, "i want you to help me."

"i shall do so when i return, in a month," said tod quickly. "it is as well, since mavis is to play the part of charity, that my wife should be out of the kingdom. i shall leave her abroad when i return, and then we can try and put things straight. they are crooked enough now."

"do you agree to this?" gerald asked charity once more.

"of course," she answered promptly, "and i shall send tod back from switzerland before the end of our honeymoon. the sooner these affairs are settled the better. i wish you and mavis to be happy, and also i want to know about my parentage. i am tired of being charity bird."

"you will soon be charity macandrew," whispered tod tenderly.

"oh yes--but i wish to know if i am charity durham."

"i am sure you are, and my sister," said mavis, taking the other girl's hand, "and gerald and i have been talking. if i get this six thousand a year, you shall have half."

"oh no," cried charity, half delighted and half doubtful.

"oh yes--even though you may not prove to be my sister."

gerald shrugged his shoulders. "there's no more to be said," he remarked, "save that i am certain my surmise is correct. well, mrs. pelham odin, will you take mavis to your flat?"

"yes." the old lady rose, and with her own hands drew down mavis' veil. "we had better go at once, seeing that we all now understand what is to be done. charity?"

that young lady had already arranged her veil. "tod is taking me back to kensington," she said, "and will call for me to-night at the theatre. i shall say that you are indisposed, mother."

"quite so," rejoined the actress, "but pray tell as few lies as possible, and do behave yourself with mr. macandrew."

"we'll be as good as gold," said tod piously. "by the way, gerald, one moment. my clerk went to watch mrs. crosbie and her mother at bognor."

"well, and what happened?"

"neither mrs. berch nor mrs. crosbie are there. they have not been near the place."

"now, what does that mean. she certainly said that she was going."

"i suppose she changed her mind in a feminine way," rejoined tod, and the symposium broke up, having arranged all necessary plans for the immediate future.

for the next day or two gerald was extremely anxious, as may be guessed. the daily papers were filled with accounts of the leegarth murder, and with details respecting the search which was being made for mavis durham. the inquest had taken place, and the jury--as was natural, considering what major rebb declared--brought in a verdict of wilful murder against the girl. no one entertained a shadow of doubt as regarded her guilt, and haskins was glad, for once, that mavis had not been taught to read, since she could not worry herself over what the newspapers said. rebb, at the inquest, had been severely reprehended for not having shut up his ward in a public asylum: but nothing came out about the income belonging to her which he enjoyed. it was the prevailing impression that rebb had taken charge of his brother officer's little girl out of sheer kindness of heart, and many of the journals praised his philanthropy. gerald could imagine rebb's grim smile on reading about the undeserved honors thrust upon him.

and the young man was also anxious about mavis' appearance at the belver theatre, since she had been shut up all her life, and might be terrified out of her wits when facing an audience. if she did fail, mrs. pelham odin intended to announce that her daughter was ill, and so gloss the matter over. but neither the actress or the lover need have been afraid. mavis knew what was expected of her: knew what was at stake, and heartened by her love for gerald, as well as by her desire for safety, she behaved like a heroine. in a wonderfully short space of time she picked up the dance, having been already taught how to use her hands and feet by the unfortunate bellaria. moreover the girl was a born dancer, and likewise suggested improvements which delighted both charity and her adopted mother. indeed the latter lamented loudly that mavis was to marry gerald, instead of appearing on the stage, as out of such promising material she said that a wonderful actress could be made. dancing was only one way in which mavis could express herself: but with instruction and experience--as mrs. pelham odin averred--she could attain to a high position on the english stage. "and we need new talent," wailed mrs. pelham odin, "half the actresses who are on the boards should be off them."

one result of mavis' improvements in the moon-fay dance was that mrs. pelham odin, being an old friend of the belver manager, induced him to give mavis a rehearsal. of course he thought that the demure young lady who appeared was the charity bird he knew, and that she merely wanted to alter the dance a trifle. as the ballet was nearly at an end he scarcely deemed it necessary to grant mrs. pelham odin's request, but in the end she got her own way, and mavis was fortunate enough to have a trial trip. this assisted her greatly, as it enabled her to face a small audience before beholding the greater one. the manager was delighted with the improvements, and hinted to mrs. pelham odin, as he had hinted before, that he was anxious to re-engage miss charity bird for the new ballet.

"no," said mrs. pelham odin, privately lamenting the necessity of declining exceptionally good terms, "in a couple of weeks or so, when the run of the moon-fay is over, my daughter and myself are going to southend for a rest."

"miss bird is not going to marry that macandrew fellow, i hope?" remarked the manager, who had heard rumors. "she will be a loss to the stage."

"nothing has been arranged as yet," replied the actress evasively, and the matter dropped.

when the night came for mavis' appearance, charity did a rash thing, in which she induced tod to support her, although both mrs. pelham odin and gerald would have been seriously annoyed had they known. this was nothing less than to make tod take her--closely veiled--to the gallery of the belver theatre to see her double, dance. tod remonstrated, but, being very much in love, yielded in the long run, and, just before the curtain rose on the moon-fay, charity and the lawyer found themselves very comfortably seated among the gods. the theatre was crowded as usual, as the ballet was a successful one, and charity pointed out gerald and mrs. pelham odin in a small box near the stage.

"i do hope mavis is not afraid," whispered charity, who was a trifle nervous herself.

"no," answered tod, in the same low tones. "i am quite certain that she will pull through all right. that girl has the heart of a lion."

and indeed macandrew's prophecy proved to be a correct one. when the curtain drew up on the forest scene, in which charity had figured for so many nights as a moon-fay, everything went excellently. the wandering lover, who was searching for his peasant love, chased the moonbeams as usual--these were electric lights--and when they gathered into one radiance of white, and he fell on his knees, invoking the fairy of the moon to assist him in his search, mavis, arrayed in filmy, vaporous robes of snow, stepped calmly on to the stage. she had altered the dress a little as she thought charity's robes were a trifle scanty. the wardrobe mistress and the manager had remonstrated on the change, and could not understand why miss charity bird had altered her mind about the dress when the ballet was nearing its end. but they never suspected the truth, as mavis, a born actress, had mimicked charity's speech and gesture in private life. so she appeared in a kind of greek dress worn long, and sparkling with silver. her hair was crowned with a diadem of crystals, and with her pure face uplifted in the glory of the light she looked indeed like a spirit. the audience, as did the stage hands and the manager, thought still that they saw charity bird; but all the same they felt, in a puzzled way, that there was something different in the girl. what would they have said had they known that the moon-fay was being sought for far and wide, as a lunatic and a murderess. but no one dreamed of such a thing, and gerald would not have winced even had rebb himself been present. but the major was not there, as he had more important matters to attend to; and moreover there was no need that he should come, seeing that he was ignorant of the dancer's identity.

in the dark scenic forest, and amidst the soft radiance of the electric lights, mavis danced as she had been instructed by charity, so as to swing in time to the music, but also she introduced something of the mystic element she had displayed when gerald had beheld her swaying in the grounds of the pixy's house. she floated across the wide stage like a veritable moonbeam, beckoned to the lover, bent over him like a fair white angel, and finally melted into a mist. this was contrived by gauze screens, a clever device, which had been much commented upon by the press. when the moon-fay vanished there was a burst of applause. charity always had been applauded for her dance, but never had the audience been so hearty in showing their appreciation as on this night. but charity was not at all jealous for the attention bestowed upon her double.

"i must have looked splendid, if i was like that," she whispered to tod.

"of course you were like that," replied macandrew, "isn't she your double, dear. only," he added loyally, and what is more, he really believed what he said, "you were ever so much better."

mrs. pelham odin hurried behind the scenes as soon as mavis' dance was at an end, and hurried the girl away the moment she completed her change of dress. as this was the old actress' usual way of behaving with charity her action caused no comment. beyond the fact that several people behind the scenes remarked that miss bird had been in unusually good form on this particular night no one troubled about the matter. and indeed why should they, seeing how they had beheld the ballet for more than a hundred nights, and also the dance of charity bird?

gerald was delighted, and there was a very merry little supper at mrs. pelham odin's flat that night. mavis again and again asked her lover if she had done well, and if he was pleased with her. gerald could only reply with kisses, until mrs. pelham odin merrily declared that she could not remain in the room if they were so affectionate. "and then, child," she added, "we must turn this young man out, for to-morrow i have to be at mr. macandrew's wedding."

"cannot i come?" asked mavis eagerly.

"bless me, child, no! your presence would bring about the very complication we are desirous of avoiding. things are going right so far, so do not put them wrong."

so the next day mavis remained in the flat, quite accepted by the servants of the house as miss charity bird, while the real lady who bore that name went with macandrew and gerald and mrs. pelham odin to a quiet country church in essex, where tod had elected to get married. gerald was the best man, and mrs. pelham odin gave the bride away in her best theatrical style. none of tod's relatives were present, for obvious reasons, but as he led his bride down the aisle after the ceremony he grinned to think of lady euphemia's wrath did she know what had taken place.

"i hope that i have done right," sighed mrs. pelham odin, when looking after the train that bore tod and his bride away. "i think i have."