sedative to keep her from thinking for a
while." Then to her father:

"Here, you, you take her home on the double-quick. Have in your
physician. Let her cousin get her in bed."

It is likely that Alfred Fluette had not been addressed for many a day
with such cavalier brusqueness, and overpowering indeed must have been
his emotions now that he did not notice the doctor's abrupt manner.
Even his daughter's condition seemed to produce only a momentary
impression upon him; for by the time Maillot and Dr. De Breen had
conveyed the limp girl to a divan, where Genevieve continued to
minister to her, he was excitedly striving to catch the doctor's
attention.

"Listen to me, sir," he commanded, his voice trembling, "you are the
one in authority here; this young man must _not_ be remanded to jail."

Dr. De Breen stopped short and fixed him with a look of surprise. And
I was not a little surprised myself. Knowing how bitterly opposed he
had been to Maillot's attentions to Miss Belle, what was I to think?
Did the manner in which the shock had prostrated her--had literally
felled her to the floor--open his eyes to the depth of their
attachment, and at the same time touch his heart with pity? His
concern could not have been more pronounced if the young fellow had
been his own son placed in similar jeopardy. Or--and here was my
predominating thought--did he have the best of reasons for _knowing_
that Maillot was innocent?

During the brief pause in which Dr. De Breen coolly surveyed him--for
once the perverse glasses observing their proper function--he recovered
something of his equipoise.

"See here, Doctor," he went on more calmly, "I am not familiar enough
with the proper procedure in--er--in criminal cases to know just what I
want to say. But is the next step imprisonment for Mr. Maillot?"

"It is," snapped the doctor.

"Then I will go his bond--in any amount; but he must not go to--"

"My dear sir," Dr. De Breen interrupted, with asperity, "a prisoner
under charge of first degree murder cannot be admitted to bail; not
even by the court having jurisdiction of his case, much less I. The
police are now responsible for the young man's movements."

He deliberately turned his back upon the millionaire speculator, and
strode away. Years after that scene, Dr. De Breen confided to me that
Fluette had given him the impression that he was hinting at a bribe.

The words, however, seemed to strike Mr. Fluette like a ph