g in his
blood"--all the trite phrases and vulgarisms of country journalism were
used to tell the sensational story which sickened Van Lennop as he read:

"The arrest of the murdered patriarch's beautiful bride is expected
hourly, as the leading citizens of Crowheart are clamoring for justice
and are bringing strong pressure to bear upon Sheriff Treu, who seems
strangely reluctant to act."

The paper dropped from Van Lennop's nerveless hand and he sat staring at
it where it lay. He picked it up and read the last paragraph, for his
dazed brain had not yet grasped its meaning. But when its entire
significance was made clear to him it came with a rush: it was like the
instantaneous effect of some powerful drug or stimulant that turned the
blood to fire and crazed the brain. The blind rage which made the room
swing round was like the frenzy of insanity. Van Lennop's face went
crimson and oaths that never had passed his lips came forth, choking-hot
and inarticulate.

"The leading citizens of Crowheart, the outcasts and riff-raff of
civilization, the tinhorn gamblers, the embezzlers, ex-bankrupts and
libertines, the sheep-herders and reformed cattle-thieves, the
blackmailers and dance-hall touts swollen by prosperity, disguised by a
veneer of respectability, want justice, do they? By God!" Van Lennop
shook his clenched fist at the empty air, "the leading citizens of
Crowheart shall HAVE justice!"

He smoothed Prescott's crumpled telegram and reached for his code-book.

When he had its meaning he pulled a telegraph-blank toward him, and
wrote:

Carry out my instructions to the letter. Do not neglect the
smallest detail. Leave no stone unturned to accomplish the end in
view.

VAN LENNOP

XXVI

LATIN METHODS

"Oh, Doc!" It was the telegraph operator, hatless, in his shirt-sleeves,
hurrying toward her from the station as she passed.

Doctor Harpe stood quite still and waited, not purposely but because a
sudden weakness in her knees made it impossible for her to meet him
half-way. She was conscious that the color was leaving her face even as
her upper lip stretched in the straight, mirthless smile with which she
faced a crisis. She knew well enough why he called her, the dread of
this moment had been with her ever since her foolish boast of Van
Lennop's letter and the destruction of his telegram.

"You gave that message to Essie? She got it all right, didn't she, Doc?"

She had prepare