r
sitting unmoved and quietly disdainful in his dignity and pride, he
felt that, whether Mr. Orcutt succeeded in getting all he wished from
his witness, the mere conjunction of these two men before the jury, with
the opportunity for comparison between them which it inevitably offered,
was the master-stroke of this eminent lawyer's legal career.

Mr. Ferris seemed to feel the significance of the moment also, for his
eyes fell and his brow contracted with a sudden doubt that convinced Mr.
Byrd that, mentally, he was on the point of giving up his case.

The witness was at once sworn.

"Orcutt believes Hildreth to be the murderer, or, at least, is willing
that others should be impressed with this belief," was the comment of
Byrd to himself at this juncture.

He had surprised a look which had passed between the lawyer and Miss
Dare--a look of such piercing sarcasm and scornful inquiry that it might
well arrest the detective's attention and lead him to question the
intentions of the man who could allow such an expression of his feelings
to escape him.

But whether the detective was correct in his inferences, or whether Mr.
Orcutt's glance at Imogene meant no more than the natural emotion of a
man who suddenly sees revealed to the woman he loves the face of him for
whose welfare she has expressed the greatest concern and for whose sake,
while unknown, she has consented to make the heaviest of sacrifices, the
wary lawyer was careful to show neither scorn nor prejudice when he
turned toward the witness and began his interrogations.

On the contrary, his manner was highly respectful, if not considerate,
and his questions while put with such art as to keep the jury constantly
alert to the anomalous position which the witness undoubtedly held, were
of a nature mainly to call forth the one fact for which his testimony
was presumably desired. This was, his presence in the widow's house on
the morning of the murder, and the fact that he saw her and conversed
with her and could swear to her being alive and unhurt up to a few
minutes before noon. To be sure, the precise minute of his leaving her
in this condition Mr. Orcutt failed to gather from the witness, but,
like the coroner at the inquest, he succeeded in eliciting enough to
show that the visit had been completed prior to the appearance of the
tramp at the widow's kitchen-door, as it had been begun after the
disappearance of the Danton children from the front of the widow's