be detained?"

"Yes, as witness."

"Does he object?"

"Not at all. Having spoken--told his whole story, as he says--he is
rather glad than otherwise to be relieved from the common curiosity of
strangers. He's a rare bird, Gryce. If he stops to think, he must see
that he stands in a more or less ticklish position. But he does not
betray by look or action any doubt of our entire belief in the truth of
all his statements. His only trouble seems to be that he has lost, by
these inhuman means, the girl upon whom he had set his heart. To-morrow
we will confront him with Mrs. Taylor. She should be able to say whether
he did or did not stand out in the open gallery at the moment Miss
Willetts fell."

But Mr. Gryce had no encouragement to give him on this head.

"Mrs. Taylor is ill--very ill, as I take it. I stopped at her hotel to
inquire. I was anxious about her for more than one reason and the report
I got of her condition was far from favorable. She is suffering cruelly
from shock. How occasioned, whether by the peculiar and startling death
to which she was a witness or by the strangely coincident fancy to which
she herself attributes her deep emotion, will have to be decided by
further developments. Nothing which I was able to learn from doctor or
nurse settled this interesting question. Meanwhile, no one is allowed to
see her--or will be till she is on the direct road to recovery. Let us
hope that this may be soon, or the inquest may be delayed indefinitely."

"I don't know as that is to be deplored. I imagine we shall find enough
to fill in our time.... Any communications made by her before she
collapsed? Did she send out or receive messages of any kind since her
return from the museum?"

"She received none; but it is impossible to say whether or not she sent
any out. There is a letter-chute very near her door. She may have dropped
a letter in that any time before a watch was put upon her. You are
thinking, of course, of the anxiety she expressed about her husband, and
whether she took any measures for ascertaining if her fears for him had
any foundation in fact?"

"I was, yes; but I presume this fancy had passed, or else she is too ill
to remember her own aberrations. Were you able to effect an understanding
with her nurse?"

"Yes; that's fixed. I had a short talk, too, with the proprietor of the
hotel. He thinks very highly of Mrs. Taylor. She has lived in the one
apartment for years, and he cannot say enough