at facing the First Commissioner.

"Now, Miss White, we're going to ask you for a few facts about your
masquerade," said Sir Stanley kindly. "I understand that you appeared
wearing the costume, and giving a fairly good imitation of the voice of
Jack o' Judgment. Now, I'm telling you before we go any further that I
do not believe for one moment that you are Jack o' Judgment. Am I
right?"

She nodded.

"Perfectly true, Sir Stanley," she said. "I don't know why I did such a
mad thing, except that I knew Pinto was scared of him. I got the cloak
from my dress-basket and made the mask myself. You see, I didn't know
whether I might want it, but I thought that in a tight pinch, if I
wished to terrify this man, that was the role to assume."

Sir Stanley nodded.

"And the voice, of course, was easy."

"But how could you imitate the voice if you have never seen Jack o'
Judgment?"

"I saw him once." She shivered a little. "You seem to forget, Sir
Stanley, that he rescued me from that dreadful house."

"Of course," said Sir Stanley, "and you imitated him, did you?" He
turned to his subordinate. "I'm accepting Miss White's explanation,
Stafford, and I advise you to do the same. She went up to watch Silva,
as I understand, and took the costume with her as a sort of protection.
Well, Miss White, are you satisfied with your detective work?"

She smiled ruefully.

"I'm afraid I'm a failure as a detective," she said.

"I'm afraid you are," laughed Sir Stanley, as he rose and offered his
hand. "There is only one real detective in the world--and that is Jack
o' Judgment!"

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE PASSING OF PHILLOPOLIS

If Pinto Silva had a hobby, it was the Orpheum Theatre. The Orpheum had
been in low water and had come into the market at a moment when
theatrical managers and proprietors were singularly unenterprising and
money was short. Pinto had bought the property for a song, and had
converted his purchase into a moderate success. The theatre served a
double purpose; it provided Pinto with a hobby, and offered an excuse
for his wealth. Since it was a one-man show, and he produced no
balance-sheet, his contemporaries could only make a guess as to the
amount of money he made. If the truth be told, it was not very large,
but small as it was, its dividends more or less justified his own
leisure.

There had been one or two scandals about the Orpheum which had reached
the public Press--scandals of a not particularly