'm guilty
say so. Go tell Robinson so."

He glanced away while the angry colour left his face. He was a little
dazed by the realization that he had spoken to Graham as he might have
done to an enemy, as he had spoken to Howells in the old bedroom. He
felt the touch of Graham's hand on his shoulder.

"I'm only working in your service," Graham said kindly. "I'm sorry if
I've troubled you by seeking physical facts in order to escape the
ghosts. For Groom has brought the ghosts back with him. Don't make any
mistake about that. You want the truth, don't you?"

"Yes," Bobby said, "even if it does for me. But I want it quickly. I
can't go on this way indefinitely."

Yet that flash of temper had given him courage to face the ordeal. A
lingering resentment at Graham's suggestion lessened the difficulty of
his position. Entering the court, he scarcely glanced at the black wagon.

There were more dark-clothed men in the hall. Rawlins had returned.
From the rug in front of the fireplace he surveyed the group with a
bland curiosity. Robinson sat near by, glowering at Paredes. The
Panamanian had changed his clothing. He, too, was sombrely dressed,
and, instead of the vivid necktie he had worn from the courthouse, a
jet-black scarf was perfectly arranged beneath his collar. He lounged
opposite the district attorney, his eyes studying the fire. His fingers
on the chair arm were restless.

Doctor Groom stood at the foot of the stairs, talking with the clergyman,
a stout and unctuous figure. Bobby noticed that the great stolid form of
the doctor was ill at ease. From his thickly bearded face his reddish
eyes gleamed forth with a fresh instability.

The clergyman shook hands with Bobby. "We need not delay. Your cousin is
upstairs." He included the company in his circling turn of the head.

"Any one who cares to go--"

Bobby forced himself to walk up the staircase, facing the first phase
of his ordeal. He saw that the district attorney realized that, too,
for he sprang from his chair, and, followed by Rawlins, started upward.
The entire company crowded the stairs. At the top Bobby found Paredes
at his side.

"Carlos! Why do you come?"

"I would like to be of some comfort," Paredes answered gravely.

His fingers on the banister made that restless, groping movement.

Graham summoned Katherine. One of the black-clothed men opened the door
of Silas Blackburn's room. He stepped aside, beckoning. He had an air of
a showman cravin