swear he's innocent."

"You've known Radnor all your life," I returned bitterly.

"Yes," he said, "I have--and Jefferson Gaylord, too."

I rode on in silence and I do not think I ever hated anyone as, for the
moment, I hated the man beside me. I knew that he was thinking of Polly
Mathers, and I imagined that I could detect an undertone of triumph in
his voice.

"It's well known," he went on, half to himself and half to me, "that
Radnor sometimes had high words with his father; and to-day, they tell
me at the hotel, he came back alone without waiting for the others, and
while his horse was being saddled he drank off two glasses of brandy as
if they had been water. All the men on the veranda marked how white his
face was, and how he cursed the stable boy for being slow. It was
evident that something had happened in the cave, and what with finding
his match box at the scene of the crime--circumstantial evidence is
pretty strong against him."

I was too miserable to think of any answer; and, the fellow finally
having the decency to keep quiet, we galloped the rest of the way in
silence.

Though it must have been long after midnight when we reached the house,
lights were still burning in the downstairs rooms. We rode up to the
portico with considerable clamor and dismounted. One of the men held the
horses while Mattison and the other followed me into the house. Rad
himself, hearing the noise of our arrival, came to the door to meet us.
He was quite composed again and spoke in his usual manner.

"Hello, Arnold! Did you find him, and is the party over?"

He stopped uncertainly as he caught sight of the others. They stepped
into the hall and stood watching him a moment without saying anything. I
tried to tell him but the words seemed to stick in my throat.

"A--a terrible thing has happened, Rad," I stammered out.

"What's the matter?" he asked, a sudden look of anxiety springing to his
face.

"I am sorry, Rad," Mattison replied, "but it is my duty to arrest you."

"To arrest me, for what?" he asked with a half laugh.

"For the murder of your father."

Radnor put out his hand against the wall to steady himself, and his lips
showed white in the lamp light. At the sight of his face I could have
sworn that he was not acting, and that the news came with as much of a
shock to him as it had to me.

"My father murdered!" he gasped. "What do you mean?"

"His dead body was found in the cave, and circumstantial evidenc