bantering air and speaking seriously. "We have never ceased making
guarded inquiries. I am here now for that very purpose. Some thirty
years ago, on the death of his father, he and his brother, Ralph Vane
Meiklejohn, inherited an old-established banking business in Vermont.
Ralph was a bit of a rake, but local opinion regarded William as a
steady-going, domesticated man who would uphold the family traditions.
There was no ink on the blotter during upward of ten years, and William
was already a candidate for Congress when Ralph was involved in a
scandal which caused some talk at the time. The name of a governess in a
local house was associated with his, and her name was Bartlett."

Carshaw glanced at the detective with a quick uneasiness, which Clancy
pretended not to notice.

"I have no proof, but absolutely no doubt," he continued, "that this
woman is now known as Rachel Craik. She fell into Ralph Meiklejohn's
clutches then, and has remained his slave ever since. Two years later
there was a terrific sensation here. A man named Marchbanks was found
lying dead in a lakeside quarry, having fallen or been thrown into it.
This quarry was situated near the Meiklejohn house. Mrs. Marchbanks, a
ward of Meiklejohn's father, died in childbirth as the result of shock
when she heard of her husband's death, and inquiry showed that all her
money had been swallowed up in loans to her husband for Stock Exchange
speculation. Mrs Marchbanks was a noted beauty, and her fortune was
estimated at nearly half a million dollars. It was all the more amazing
that her husband should have lost such a great sum in reckless gambling,
seeing that those who remember him say he was a nice-mannered gentleman
of the old type, devoted to his wife, and with a passion for cultivating
orchids. Again, why should Mrs. Marchbanks's bankers and guardians allow
her to be ruined by a thoughtless fool?"

Clancy seemed to be asking himself these questions; but Carshaw, so far
from New York, and with a mind ever dwelling on Winifred, said
impatiently:

"You didn't bring me here to tell me about some long-forgotten mystery?"

"Ah, quit that hair-trigger business!" snapped Clancy. "You just listen,
an' maybe you'll hear something interesting. Ralph Vane Meiklejohn left
Vermont soon afterward. Twelve years ago a certain Ralph Voles was
sentenced to five years in a penitentiary for swindling. Mrs.
Marchbanks's child lived. It was a girl, and baptized as Winifred. S