the hills of Italy and Switzerland in the hope of
regaining a health, which had been failing, so I understood, ever
since her daughter's birth. She had come home at last, bringing the
black-eyed child with her, and within the year was dead.

Holladay's affections from that moment seemed to grow and center about
his daughter, who developed into a tall and beautiful girl--too
beautiful, as was soon apparent, for our junior partner's peace of
mind. He had met her first in a business way, and afterwards socially,
and all of us who had eyes could see how he was eating his heart out
at the knowledge that she was far beyond his reach; for it was evident
that her father deemed her worthy of a brilliant marriage--as, indeed,
she was. I sometimes thought that she held herself at a like value,
for though there was about her a constant crowd of suitors, none of
them, seemingly, could win an atom of encouragement. She was waiting,
I told myself, waiting; and I had even pictured to myself the grim
irony of a situation in which our junior might be called upon to
arrange her marriage settlements.

The cab stopped with a jolt, and I looked up to see that we had
reached the Criminal Courts building. Mr. Royce sprang out, paid the
driver, and ran up the steps to the door, I after him. He turned down
the corridor to the right, and entered the room at the end of it,
which I recognized as the office of Coroner Goldberg. A considerable
crowd had already collected there.

"Has the coroner arrived yet?" my companion asked one of the clerks.

"Yes, sir; he's in his private office."

"Will you take him this card and say that I'd like to see him at once,
if possible?"

The clerk hurried away with the card. He was back again in a moment.

"This way, sir," he called.

We followed him across the room and through a door at the farther
side.

"Ah, Mr. Royce, glad to see you," cried the coroner, as we entered.
"We tried to find you last night, but learned that you were out of
town, and I was just calling up your office again."

"Miss Holladay asked for me, then?"

"Yes, at once. When we found we couldn't get you, we suggested your
senior, but she said she'd wait till you returned."

I could see our junior's face crimson with pleasure.

"You didn't think it necessary to confine her, I trust?" he asked.

"Oh, no; she wasn't disturbed. She spent the night at home--under
surveillance."

"That was right. Of course, it's simply absurd to s