that Mr. Ranelagh was
not in it, for his glass was the only one which remained unbroken. Am I
wrong in telling you? I wouldn't if--if it were not for Mr. Ranelagh. He
didn't do right by Miss Cumberland, but he don't deserve to be in prison;
and so would Miss Carmel tell you if she knew what was going on and could
speak. _She_ loved him and--I've said enough; I've said enough," the
agitated girl protested, as he leaned eagerly towards her. "I couldn't
tell the priest any more. Good night."

And she was gone.

He hesitated a moment, then pursued his way to the side door, and so out
of the house into the street. As he passed along the front of the now
darkened building, he scanned it with a new interest and a new doubt.
Soon he returned to his old habit of muttering to himself. "We don't know
the half of what has taken place within those walls during the last four
weeks," said he. "But one thing I will solve, and that is where this
miserable fellow spent the hours between this dinner they speak of and
the time of his return next day. Hexford has failed at it. Now we'll see
what a blooming stranger can do."

XVI

62 CUTHBERT ROAD

Tush! I will stir about,
And all things will be well, I warrant thee.

_Romeo and Juliet_.

He was walking south and on the best lighted and most beautiful street in
town, but his eyes were forever seeking a break in the long line of fence
which marked off the grounds of a seemingly interminable stretch of
neighbouring mansions, and when a corner was at last reached, he dashed
around it and took a straight course for Huested Street, down which he
passed with quickened steps and an air of growing assurance.

He was soon at the bottom of the hill where the street, taking a turn,
plunged him at once into a thickly populated district. As this was still
the residence quarter, he passed on until he gained the heart of the town
and the region of the saloons. Here he slackened pace and consulted a
memorandum he had made while talking to Hexford. "A big job," was his
comment, sorry to find the hour quite so late. "But I'm not bound to
finish it to-night. A start is all I can hope for, so here goes."

It was not his intention to revisit the places so thoroughly overhauled
by the police. He carried another list, that of certain small groceries
and quiet unobtrusive hotels where a man could find a private room in
which to drink alone; it being Sweetwater's conviction that in such a
place,