The Doctor had his own private doubts, but didn't express them. "Leave
it to me," he said. "Get some disinfectants and clean up. Your owners
can stand the bill--at ten per cent. Much obliged for coming in,
O'Farrell."

As the politician went out an office girl entered and announced:

"There's a man out in the reception hall, Doctor, waiting to see you.
He's asleep with his elbow on the stand."

"Wake him up and ask him for his berth-check, Alice," said Dr. Surtaine,
"and if he says his name is Ellis, send him in."

Ellis it was who entered and dropped into the chair pushed forward by
his host.

"Glad to see you, my boy," Dr. Surtaine greeted him. "I thought you were
going to send a reporter."

"Ordinarily we would have sent one. But I'm pretty well interested in
this myself. I expected to hear from you long ago."

"Busy, my boy, busy. It's only been a week since I undertook the
investigation. And these things take time."

"Apparently. What's the result?"

"Nothing." The quack spread his hands abroad in a blank gesture. "False
alarm. Couple of cases of typhoid and some severe tonsillitis, that
looked like diphtheria."

"People die of tonsillitis, do they?"

"Sometimes."

"And are buried?"

"Naturally."

"What in?"

"Why, in coffins, I suppose."

"Then why were these bodies buried in quicklime?"

"What bodies?"

"Last week's lot."

"You mean in Canadaga County? O'Farrell said nothing about quicklime."

"That's what I mean. Apparently O'Farrell _did_ say something about more
corpses smuggled out last week."

"Mr. Ellis," said the Doctor, annoyed at his slip, "I am not on the
witness stand."

"Dr. Surtaine," returned the other in the same tone, "when you undertake
an investigation for the 'Clarion,' you are one of my reporters and I
expect a full and frank report from you."

"Bull's-eye for you, my boy. You win. They did run those cases out.
Before we're through with it they'll probably run more out. You see, the
Health Bureau has got it in for O'Farrell, and if they knew there was
anything up there, they'd raise a regular row and queer things
generally."

"What _is_ up?"

"Honestly, I don't know."

"Nor even suspect?"

"Well, it might be scarlet fever. Or, perhaps diphtheria. You see
strange types sometimes."

"If it's either, failure to report is against the law."

"Technically, yes. But we've got it fixed to clean things up. The people
will be looked after. There's no real dan