nd judging the characters of other
men,--usually with unerring exactness, I fancied,--but I affected to
appear unconscious of the fact that he was noticing me at all.

Alexander Burke was the second witness. His testimony did not vary
from his already familiar story, and after the deputy-coroner had put
all the interrogations he could think of, I began to prompt the
energetic and shrewd examiner. Thenceforward the whilom secretary's
examination proceeded as follows:

"Did Mr. Page have a revolver?"

"Yes. But it is now in my possession. More than a week ago I was
engaged with Mr. Page here until a late hour. It was necessary for me
to go to his office to procure some papers; it was past eleven, and he
handed me his pistol. I forgot to return it."

So much for the pistol. The weapon was immaterial.

"In pursuance of your duties as Mr. Page's confidential clerk, Mr.
Burke, you had occasion quite frequently to come here to the house, did
you not?"

"Not frequently--sometimes."

"Were you familiar with his habits about the house?"

"I suppose so--yes."

"Which rooms did Mr. Page use the oftenest?"

"This one--and his bedroom. He scarcely ever entered any of the other
rooms--seldom ascended the stairs."

"How would you account for the door-hinges on all three doors between
the alcove and the bedroom having been freshly oiled?"

He did n't attempt to account for it; he merely evinced a mild surprise
that such should have been the case. So, impatiently, I requested Dr.
De Breen to dismiss him.

I was anxious to have over with the real ordeal of the day, for I knew
that I thus correctly characterized to myself Maillot's session in the
witness-chair, and, if I was not much mistaken, whatever was to follow
after he was through with his remarkable story. Correct as I was in a
part of my assumption, everybody present was far from being prepared
for the startling denouement.

Maillot began his account of Tuesday night's happenings in a
straightforward way, and told it at length as convincingly as such an
improbable story could be told at all. His injured eye was even worse
discolored than it had been the previous day, and I--watching closely
the half-dozen honest citizens with whom lay his immediate
fate--observed that they noticed and commented upon it among themselves.

And my anticipations presently began to be realized. As the young man
made plain the purpose of his errand to Mr. Page, as he again