unham the death
of his once trusted negotiator would be a welcome release from the
tyranny of a dangerous past.

"The statesman's immaculate toga is still unsmirched," bitterly
commented Witherspoon.

"And now all of Arthur Ferris' busy schemes have come to naught!
His bootless treason, his fruitless intrigue of years, even the
hush-money on the one side, the blood-money on the other, are all
alike valueless! He lost every trick in life, even with the cards
in his own hands." It was a case of the engineer "hoist with his
own petard!"

In vain did John Witherspoon await any personal comment from the
great heiress. The very name of the dead man was unmentioned in
the daily letters from her secretary.

When Doctor Atwater returned from one of his now frequent "business"
visits to Detroit, he shook his head in a grave negation when
Witherspoon brought up the name of the dead counsel.

"Something very strange there! Even Boardman and Warner seemed
averse to any conversation upon the subject," soberly said Atwater.
"I judge that the memory of Ferris is a most distasteful topic
to them all. I presume that the papers of old Hugh probably have
revived matters, which might as well be buried in Ferris' lonely
grave out there on the shores of the Formosa Strait."

It was nearly two months after the cabled announcement when
John Witherspoon received a bulky packet from the United States
Vice-Consul at Amoy, China. He had not fully deciphered all the
documents when he sprang from his chair and, quitting the Trading
Company's office, hurriedly drove to Doctor Atwater's headquarters.

Atwater saw from his friend's face that something of moment had
happened. "Tell me, Jack, what is it?" he asked with a horrible
fear.

"Alice?"

Witherspoon smiled sadly, as his friend's excitement betrayed the
innocent secret of the young physician's heart.

"No! God be praised!" he slowly answered. "Alice lives to bless
some good man's life! But I have here a message from the dead, and
the last legacy of a crime! You must go out instantly to Detroit,
for I cannot leave our great interests at this juncture. It seems
as if the very grave had opened for this!"

Doctor Atwater's eyes were dim when he handed the papers back to
his friend. "What could have goaded him on to his unhappy end! What
stings and whiplashes of conscience! Let us go carefully over the
whole matter together! I will telegraph my departure and then take
to-night's