on the afternoon express back to G--."

"It is very likely that I will take that train myself," said Muller. "If
there is anything that you need on the journey, call on me."

"Oh, thank you, I will indeed! Thank you both, gentlemen. And now
good-bye, and God bless you!"

The commissioner bowed and Muller held the door open for Miss Graumann
to pass out. There was silence in the room, as the two men looked after
the quaint little figure slowly descending the stairs.

"A brave little woman," murmured the commissioner.

"It is not only the mother in the flesh who knows what a mother's love
is," added Muller.

Next morning Joseph Muller stood in the cell of the prison in G----
confronting Albert Graumann, accused of the murder of John Siders.

The detective had just come from a rather difficult interview with
Commissioner Lange. But the latter, though not a brilliant man, was at
least good-natured. He acknowledged the right of the accused and his
family to ask for outside assistance, and agreed with Muller that it was
better to have some one in the official service brought in, rather than
a private detective whose work, in its eventual results, might bring
shame on the police. Muller explained that Miss Graumann did not want
her nephew to know that it was she who had asked for aid in his behalf,
and that it could only redound to his, Lange's, credit if it were
understood that he had sent to Vienna for expert assistance in this
case. It would be a proof of his conscientious attention to duty,
and would insure praise for him, whichever way the case turned out.
Commissioner Lange saw the force of this argument, and finally gave
Muller permission to handle the case as he thought best, rather relieved
than otherwise for his own part. The detective's next errand was to the
prison, where he now stood looking up into the deep-set, dark eyes of a
tall, broad-shouldered, black-bearded man, who had arisen from the cot
at his entrance. Albert Graumann had a strong, self-reliant face and
bearing. His natural expression was somewhat hard and stern, but it
was the expression of a man of integrity and responsibility. Muller had
already made some inquiries as to the prisoner's reputation and business
standing in the community, and all that he had heard was favourable.
A certain hardness and lack of amiability in Graumann's nature made it
difficult for him to win the hearts of others, but although he was not
generally loved, he was u