n had appealed to her as a woman. She had pitied,
sympathized, and he had taken advantage of her natural compassion to
falsely charge me with the whole trouble. How far he had gone, what foul
accusation he had made, could not be guessed, yet he had sufficiently
poisoned her mind against me. Then circumstances had combined to make
the case still blacker. Doubtless to her it was already conclusive. I
had been seeking the fellow alone, revolver in hand. She had overheard
what must have sounded like a struggle, and there was the dead man, his
skull crushed by a blow. Everything pointed directly toward me from her
point of view--motive, opportunity. Who else could it be? Even I,
anxious as I was, could not answer that question. I had seen no one, was
not aware the dead man had an enemy about the place, could discover no
clue except that bit of damp clay on the stairs. Yes, and my own boots
were stained with it also--only I knew that lump never came from mine.
These thoughts swept across my mind in lightning-like flashes, but
brought no solution to the problem. Then Major Hardy suddenly appeared,
closing the door, and mopping his face with a handkerchief. His eyes
met mine.

"By Gad, Galesworth," he began, "woman is the hardest creature to
comprehend on this foot-stool. I've been trying to understand them for
fifty years, and am still in the primary class. You'd never have thought
that girl of mine cared anything for Le Gaire to hear her talk last
night, yet, now the fellow is dead, she is crazy. Lying in there on the
bed, crying, and won't say a word. Only thing she asked me when I came
in was what he had been killed with. I said it looked as if he had been
struck from behind with a pistol butt, and then she collapsed. Couldn't
get a thing out of her--just cried, and begged me to go away; said she'd
be all right, if left alone. Blamed if I know what to do with a woman
like that--over such a fellow as Le Gaire too! By Gad, I supposed Billie
had more sense. When she wouldn't talk to me I proposed sending you in
to explain matters. You should have seen her eyes, Galesworth, through
the tears. Mad! I never waited to hear what she was trying to say. I
reckoned the best thing to do was to leave her alone a while."

"You explained nothing?"

"No--what was there to explain?"

"Major," I said, every nerve braced for conflict, "with your permission
I am going in there and have a talk with your daughter--may I?"

"Certainly, as fa