o it seemed
that he must be rushing headlong to certain destruction. Still, seeing
that it was Felix Page who was doing most of the selling, Fluette's crowd
was nervous.

And the sequel, in all conscience, warranted their anxiety. For more
than a week Felix Page's iron-prowed ships had been crushing and smashing
their way through the ice, opening a way for other ships; yesterday they
had steamed into port with their precious cargoes, demoralizing the bull
clique with a deluge of golden grain.

Page settled; he had sold five million bushels, and he delivered the
goods. This was the opening fissure. Fluette was soon overwhelmed, and
today he and his crowd would be holding a melancholy wake over the corpse.

This, however, is not a story of stupendous battles in the arena of
Commerce. I have merely gone behind my proper starting-point by a matter
of ten minutes or so--no more--to lay before you one of those
inexplicable coincidences which, when they are flung at us, shake us from
our self-possession. The stage was already set for me; serenely
unsuspecting, I was headed straight toward it.

Police headquarters was my destination, and I had no sooner stepped
across the threshold than I was told that the Captain was wanting to see
me at once. So I went direct to his private office, where he was deep in
conference with a party of four men, who, in spite of a general air of
gloom which seemed to envelop them, looked like a quartet of prosperous
brokers. It occurred to me that they might have been struck by the stick
of the spent rocket.

As the Captain abruptly broke off an earnest speech to wheel his chair
round and address me, the four men stared at me with a curious,
unwavering interest.

Fancy how I was staggered by the first words. My chief thrust a card in
my direction, on which was pencilled a street number.

"Go to this address at once, Swift," said he. "It looks like murder--old
Page."

"Page!" I almost shouted. "You can't mean Felix Page!"

"What's the matter with you? Know anything about it?"

My stupefaction was pronounced enough to excite his wonder. I assure
you, we are not often astonished at the Central Office.

I caught my breath and shook my head. Of course, I knew nothing about
it. But it was something besides the amazing, unexpected intelligence of
Felix Page's death that struck me right between the eyes. With the
mention of his name, my mind cut one of those unaccountable capers