e curse of all journalism," put in Laurence. "The temptation to be
effective at the expense of honesty."

"And what do you think of _that_?" inquired the cheerful Marrineal,
still directing his query to Banneker.

"I think it's rather a large order. Why do you keep asking my opinion?"

"Because I suspect that you still bring a fresh mind to bear on these
matters."

Banneker rose, and bade Betty Raleigh good-night. She retained his hand
in hers, looking up at him with a glint of anxiety in her weary,
childlike eyes. "Don't mind what we've said," she appealed to him.
"We're all a little above ourselves. It's always so after an opening."

"I don't mind at all," he returned gravely: "unless it's true."

"Ah, it's true right enough," she answered dispiritedly. "Don't forget
about the investigation. And don't let them dare to put you on on a
matinee day."

Betty Raleigh was a conspicuous figure, at not one but half a dozen
sessions of the investigation, which wound through an accelerating and
sensational course, with Banneker as the chief figure. He was an
extraordinary witness, ready, self-possessed, good-humored under the
heckling of the politician lawyer who had claimed and received the right
to appear, on the ground that his police clients might be summoned later
on a criminal charge.

Before the proceedings were over, a complete overturn in the city
government was foreshadowed, and it became evident that Judge Enderby
might either head the movement as its candidate, or control it as its
leader. Nobody, however, knew what he wished or intended politically.
Every now and again in the progress of the hearings, Banneker would
surprise on the lawyer's face an expression which sent his memory
questing fruitlessly for determination of that elusive likeness,
flickering dimly in the past.

Banneker's own role in the investigation kept him in the headlines; at
times put him on the front page. Even The Ledger could only minimize,
not suppress, his dominating and picturesque part.

But there was another and less pleasant sequel to the shooting, in its
effect upon the office status. Though he was a "space-man" now, dependent
for his earnings upon the number of columns weekly which he had in the
paper, and ostensibly equipped to handle matter of importance, a long
succession of the pettiest kind of assignments was doled out to him by
the city desk: obituary notices of insignificant people, small police
items, tipsters' yar