y you hadn't a second witness." He thought for a
moment. "Even then it wouldn't have been sufficient unless we had Crotin
to support you."

Stafford cleared his throat.

"I have a second witness, sir," he said.

"The devil you have!" Sir Stanley raised his eyebrows. "Who was your
second witness?"

"Jack o' Judgment," said Stafford, and Sir Stanley jumped to his feet.

"Jack o' Judgment!" he repeated. "What do you mean?"

"Jack o' Judgment was there," said Stafford, and told the story of the
remarkable appearance of that mysterious figure.

He told everything, reserving the identification of Jack till the last.

"And then you flashed the lamp on his face," said Sir Stanley. "Well,
who was it?"

"Maisie White," said Stafford.

"Good Lord!"

Sir Stanley walked to the window and stood looking out, his hands thrust
into his pockets. Presently he turned.

"There's a bigger mystery here than I suspected," he said. "Have you
asked Miss White for an explanation?"

Stafford shook his head.

"I thought it best to report the matter to you, sir, before I asked her
to----"

"To incriminate herself, eh? Well, perhaps you did wisely, perhaps you
did not. I should imagine that her explanation is a very simple one."

"What do you mean, sir?"

"I mean," said Sir Stanley, "that unless Jack o' Judgment has the gift
of appearing in two places at once, she is not Jack."

"But I don't understand, sir?"

"I mean," said Sir Stanley, "that Jack o' Judgment was in the colonel's
room last night, was in fact sitting by the colonel's bedside when that
gentleman awoke, and according to the statement which Colonel Boundary
has made to me about two hours ago in this room, warned him of his
approaching end."

It was Stafford's turn to be astonished.

"Are you sure, sir?" he asked incredulously.

"Absolutely!" said Sir Stanley. "You don't imagine that the colonel
would invent that sort of thing. For some reason or other, possibly to
keep close to the trouble that's coming, the colonel insists upon
bringing all his little chit-chat to me. He asked for an interview about
ten o'clock this morning and reported to me that he had had this
visitation. Moreover, the experience has had the effect of upsetting the
colonel, and for the first time he seems to be thoroughly rattled. Where
is Miss White?"

"She's here, sir."

"Here, eh?" said the commissioner. "So much the better. Can you bring
her in?"

A few minutes later the girl s