t. "We have been barking up the
wrong tree."

"I don't know about that," said the one called Tony Smart. "Who has
identified this money? Who can answer for this young lady? How about
them marks on the door and the ladder? Anyhow there's enough to hold
our prisoner on."

"Of course there is," said the captain. "He hadn't authority to go
twisting people's necks in this county."

At this moment the wagon which had been sent for arrived. The body of
Offitt was lifted in. The captain gathered up the money, notified
Matchin that he and his family would be wanted as witnesses in the
morning, and they all moved toward the door. Sam turned to say
"Farewell." Pinioned as he was, he could not shake hands, and his voice
faltered as he took leave of them. Maud's heart was not the most
feeling one in the world, but her emotions had been deeply stirred by
the swift succession of events; and as she saw this young fellow going
so bravely to meet an unknown fate, purely for her sake, the tears came
to her eyes. She put out her hand to him; but she saw that his hands
were fastened and, seized with sudden pity, she put her arms about his
neck and kissed him, whispering, "Keep up a good heart, Sam!" and he
went away, in all his danger and ignominy happier than he had been for
many a day.

The probabilities of the case were much discussed that night at police
head-quarters, in conferences from which the reporters were rigorously
excluded, and the next morning the city newspapers revelled in the
sensation. They vied with each other in inventing attractive head-lines
and startling theories. The _Bale-Fire_ began its leader with the
impressive sentence: "Has a carnival of crime set in amongst us? Last
night the drama of Algonquin Avenue was supplemented by the tragedy of
Dean Street, and the public, aghast, demands 'What next?' A second
murder was accomplished by hands yet dripping with a previous crime.
The patriotic witness who, yesterday, with a bleeding heart, denounced
the criminality of his friend, paid last night with his life for his
fidelity." In another column called for a "monument, by popular
subscription for Andrew Jackson Offitt, who died because would not tell
a lie." On the other hand, _The Morning Astral_, representing the
conservative opinion of the city, called for a suspension of judgment
on the part of its candid readers; said that there were shady
circumstances about the antecedents of Offitt, and intimated that
docu