some which he has coined, because the
bride and bridegroom owe more, far more, to him than they imagine at
this moment. I remember----"

A loud "No, no!" from Clancy indicated that revelations were imminent.

"Well," said Steingall, "I forget just what he said on one memorable
night when four semi-intoxicated stokers held up a downtown saloon, but
I do wish to assure you of this--if it were not for Clancy's genius as
a detective, and his splendid qualities of heart and mind as a man,
this wedding might never have taken place, or, if that is putting a
strain on your imagination, let me say that its principals would have
encountered difficulties which are now, happily, the dim ghosts of what
might have been."

Curtis took an opportunity later to ask Steingall what those cryptic
words meant, and the Chief of the Bureau set at rest a doubt which had
long perplexed him.

"It was Clancy who prompted the idea of mixing up the two branches of
the inquiry," he said. "Under that wizened skin of his he has a heart
of gold. 'Why shouldn't those two young people be made happy?' he
said. 'I haven't seen the girl,' nor had he, then, 'but I like Curtis,
and she won't get a better husband if she searches the island of
Manhattan.' So we allowed Lord Valletort and the Count to believe that
it was their set of hirelings who killed poor Hunter, whereas Balusky
and Viviadi only tied up de Courtois, and were quaking with fear when
they heard of the murder, because they assumed he had been killed by
some other scoundrels, and that they would be held responsible. It was
they who gave us the names of Rossi and Martiny as the likely pair, and
the bluff I threw with Lamotte came off."

"For whom were Rossi and Martiny acting? You have never told me," said
Curtis.

"Don't ask, sir. But I don't mind giving you a sort of hint. You
know, better than I do probably, that Hungary is seething with
revolutionary parties, which are more bitter against each other than
against the common enemy, Austria. Now, two of these organizations
were keen to have Count Vassilan married to Lady Hermione, one because
of a patriotic desire to draw her money into the war-chest, the other
because they suspected him, and rightly, as a mere tool in the hands of
Austria, and they believed, again with justice I think, that when he
was married it would be Paris and the gay life for him rather than a
throne which might be shattered by Austrian bullets. The Earl