th the vivid remembrance before him of Miss Dare's looks and
actions in the scene he had witnessed between her and the supposed
Mansell in the hut, smiled with secret bitterness over this attempt of
the District Attorney to shut his eyes to the evident guiltiness of this
man.

Mr. Ferris saw this smile and instantly became irritated.

"I do not doubt any more than yourself," he resumed, in a changed voice,
"that this young man allowed his mind to dwell upon the possible
advantages which might accrue to himself if his aunt should die. He may
even have gone so far as to meditate the commission of a crime to insure
these advantages. But whether the crime which did indeed take place the
next day in his aunt's house was the result of his meditations, or
whether he found his own purpose forestalled by an attack made by
another person possessing no less interest than himself in seeing this
woman dead, is not determined by the evidence you bring."

"Then you do not favor his arrest?" inquired Mr. Byrd.

"No. The vigorous measures which were taken in Mr. Hildreth's case, and
the unfortunate event to which they have led, are terrible enough to
satisfy the public craving after excitement for a week at least. I am
not fond of driving men to madness myself, and unless I can be made to
see that my duty demands a complete transferal of my suspicions from
Hildreth to Mansell, I can advise nothing more than a close but secret
surveillance of the latter's movements until the action of the Grand
Jury determines whether the evidence against Mr. Hildreth is sufficient
to hold him for trial."

Mr. Byrd, who had such solid, if private and uncommunicable, reasons for
believing in the guilt of Craik Mansell, was somewhat taken aback at
this unlooked-for decision of Mr. Ferris, and, remembering the
temptation which a man like Hickory must feel to make his cause good at
all hazards, cast a sharp look toward that blunt-spoken detective, in
some doubt as to whether he could be relied upon to keep his promise in
the face of this manifest disappointment.

But Hickory had given his word, and Hickory remained firm; and Mr. Byrd,
somewhat relieved in his own mind, was about to utter his acquiescence
in the District Attorney's views, when a momentary interruption
occurred, which gave him an opportunity to exchange a few words aside
with his colleague.

"Hickory," he whispered, "what do you think of this objection which Mr.
Ferris makes?"

"I?"