ntarily exclaimed, with a glance at the small and
curious tent before which he stood guard.

"Yes, the doctor," he answered in unexpectedly good English. "And who
are you? Have you brought the mail and those medicines I sent for?"

"No," I replied with as propitiatory a smile as I could muster up in
face of his brusk forbidding expression. "I came on my own errand. I
am a representative of the New York--and I hope you will not deny me a
word with Mr. Fairbrother."

With a gesture I hardly knew how to interpret he took my horse by the
rein and led us on a few steps toward another large tent, where he
motioned me to descend. Then he laid his hand on my shoulder and,
forcing me to meet his eye, said:

"You have made this journey--I believe you said from New York--to see
Mr. Fairbrother. Why?"

"Because Mr. Fairbrother is at present the most sought-for man in
America," I returned boldly. "His wife--you know about his wife--"

"No. How should I know about his wife? I know what his temperature is
and what his respiration is--but his wife? What about his wife? He don't
know anything about her now himself; he is not allowed to read letters."

"But you read the papers. You must have known, before you left Santa Fe,
of Mrs. Fairbrother's foul and most mysterious murder in New York. It
has been the theme of two continents for the last ten days."

He shrugged his shoulders, which might mean anything, and confined his
reply to a repetition of my own words.

"Mrs. Fairbrother murdered!" he exclaimed, but in a suppressed voice,
to which point was given by the cautious look he cast behind him at the
tent which had drawn my attention. "He must not know it, man. I could
not answer for his life if he received the least shock in his present
critical condition. Murdered? When?"

"Ten days ago, at a ball in New York. It was after Mr. Fairbrother left
the city. He was expected to return, after hearing the news, but he
seems to have kept straight on to his destination. He was not very fond
of his wife,--that is, they have not been living together for the last
year. But he could not help feeling the shock of her death which he must
have heard of somewhere along the route."

"He has said nothing in his delirium to show that he knew it. It is
possible, just possible, that he didn't read the papers. He could not
have been well for days before he reached Santa Fe."

"When were you called in to attend him?"

"The very night after he r