n his ear,
and Mr. Byrd, who knew what was weighing on his colleague's mind, found
no difficulty in interpreting the mingled expression of perplexity and
surprise that crossed the dark, aquiline features of the District
Attorney as he listened with slightly bended head to what the detective
had to say. That look and the deep, anxious frown which crossed his brow
as he glanced up and encountered Imogene's eye, remained in Mr. Byrd's
mind long after the court-room was empty and he had returned to his
hotel. It mingled with the smile of strange satisfaction which he had
detected on Mr. Orcutt's face, and awakened such a turmoil of
contradictory images in his mind that he was glad when Hickory at last
came in to break the spell.

Their meeting was singular, and revealed, as by a flash, the difference
between the two men. Byrd contented himself with giving Hickory a look
and saying nothing, while Hickory bestowed upon Byrd a hearty "Well, old
fellow!" and broke out into a loud and by no means unenjoyable laugh.

"You didn't expect to see me mounting the rostrum in favor of the
defence, did you?" he asked, after he had indulged himself as long as he
saw fit in the display of this somewhat unseasonable mirth. "Well, it
was a surprise. But I've done it for Orcutt now!"

"You have?"

"Yes, I have."

"But the prosecution has closed its case?"

"Bah! what of that?" was the careless reply. "The District Attorney can
get it reopened. No Court would refuse that."

Horace surveyed his colleague for a moment in silence.

"So Mr. Ferris was struck with the point you gave him?" he ventured, at
last.

"Well, sufficiently so to be uneasy," was Hickory's somewhat dry
response.

The look with which Byrd answered him was eloquent. "And that makes you
cheerful?" he inquired, with ill-concealed sarcasm.

"Well, it has a slight tendency that way," drawled the other, seemingly
careless of the other's expression, if, indeed, he had noted it. "You
see," he went on, with a meaning wink and a smile of utter unconcern,
"all my energies just now are concentrated on getting myself even with
that somewhat too wide-awake lawyer." And his smile broadened till it
merged into a laugh that was rasping enough to Byrd's more delicate and
generous sensibilities.

"Sufficiently so to be uneasy!" Yes, that was it. From the minute Mr.
Ferris listened to the suggestion that Miss Dare had not told all she
knew about the murder, and that a question rel