awake, too--would in all truth be a
sorry ending of our search for it.

For the nonce, however, the mysterious face introduced only an
additional problem; one upon which I had but little time, just at
present, to bestow thought. The drama in the library had been
interrupted at its most crucial stage. It was all-important that at
least one phase of the case be brought to a termination, however
unsatisfactory that termination might be, before anything else should
be undertaken.

After explanations had been made and order was restored, the foreman
did not proceed, as might have been expected, by reading the verdict.
Instead he jerked his head sideways toward Miss Cooper.

"Mr. Coroner," he said, "we 'd like to ask the young lady some
questions."

He was a poor specimen, that foreman; one of your little, officious,
meddling busybodies, as aggravating as the buzzing of a persistent fly.

"If they are pertinent to the inquiry," said Dr. de Breen, "it is not
only proper, but your duty to ask them. The young lady will be sworn."

At this unexpected demand she darted a startled glance from the foreman
to Dr. De Breen, and then looked at me--as I joyfully fancied, for
guidance and support.

I nodded--she could n't avoid the ordeal--and she bowed in
acknowledgment of the oath, which the doctor rattled off as if it were
all one long word.

And just here I am unable to refrain from pointing out how small an
incident will sometimes afford the turning-point for a momentous
crisis; such an apt illustration is presently to follow.

When interrupted by Genevieve's shriek of terror the foreman had been
in the very midst of pronouncing the concluding phrase of the verdict.
Had it not been for the strange face, had the venturesome girl not
followed the face's owner, who could say how differently events might
not have turned out? For I know now that the first verdict was quite
different from the one finally read.

The catechism which Genevieve was required to undergo follows:

"What is your name?"

"Clara Genevieve Cooper."

"How old are you?"

"I was twenty-one in December."

"We would like to know, Miss Cooper, what relation, if any, you bear to
the witness Maillot?"

"Merely that of a friend."

"How about him and the other young lady?"--an interrogation which
instantly made Miss Belle flush and bridle. But the witness was fully
equal to the occasion.

"I would n't undertake to speak for them," she replied com