red an array of legal talent as well as of
expert testimony seldom equalled, all for the purpose of determining
the validity or invalidity of a bit of paper-yellow with age,
time-worn and musty which stood as an insurmountable barrier between
Ralph Mainwaring and the fulfilment of his long cherished project.

The Fair Oaks tragedy still remained as deep a mystery as on the
morning when, in all its horror of sickening detail, it had startled
and shocked the entire community. No trace of the murderer had been
as yet reported, and even Mr. Whitney had been forced to acknowledge
in reply to numerous inquiries that he had of late received no
tidings whatever from Merrick, either of success or failure.

Since the announcement of Harold Mainwaring at the club that he
would not touch a farthing of the Mainwaring estate until not only
his own name should be cleared of the slightest imputation of murder,
but until the murder itself should be avenged, it had been rumored
that the party at the Waldorf was in possession of facts containing
the clue to the whole mystery. Though this was mere conjecture, it
was plainly evident that whatever secrets that party held in its
possession were not likely to be divulged before their time. The
party had been augmented by the arrival of the senior member of the
firm of Barton & Barton, while the register of the Waldorf showed at
that time numerous other arrivals from London, all of whom proved to
be individuals of a severely judicial appearance and on extremely
intimate terms with the original Waldorf party. Of the business of
the former, however, or the movements of the latter, nothing definite
could be learned. Despatches in cipher still flashed daily over the
wires, but their import remained a matter of the merest surmise to
the curious world outside.

Ralph Mainwaring, on the contrary, since the arrival of his London
attorneys, Upham and Blackwell, with Graham, the well-known
chirographical expert, had seized every opportunity for rendering
himself and them as conspicuous as possible, while his boasts of
their well-laid plans, the strong points in their case, and their
ultimate triumph, formed his theme on all occasions. Mr. Whitney's
position at this time was not an enviable one, for Ralph Mainwaring,
having of late become dimly conscious of a lack of harmony between
himself and his New York attorney, took special delight in frequently
flouting his opinions and advice in the prese