?"

"John," was the answer, given after a slight pause.

"John Smith, you are charged by Miss Helen McIntyre with house-breaking.
What say you--guilty or not guilty?"

The man shifted his weight from one foot to the other and shot an uneasy
look about him.

"Not guilty," he responded.

At that instant Helen caught sight of Benjamin Clymer and his companion,
Philip Rochester, and her pale cheeks flushed faintly at the lawyer's
approach. He had time but for a hasty handshake before the clerk
administered the oath to the prisoner and the witnesses in the case.

Rochester walked back and resumed his seat by Clymer. Propping himself
in the corner made by the bench and the cage, inside of which sat the
prisoners, he opened his right hand and unfolded a small paper. He read
the brief penciled message it contained not once but a dozen times.
Folding the paper into minute dimensions he tucked it carefully inside
his vest pocket and glanced sideways at Clymer. The banker hardly
noticed his uneasy movements as he sat regarding Helen McIntyre standing
in the witness box. Although paler than usual, the girl's manner was
quiet, but Clymer, a close student of human nature, decided she was
keeping her composure by will power alone, and his interest grew.

The Judge, from the Bench, was also regarding the handsome witness and
the burglar with close attention. Colonel Charles McIntyre, a wealthy
manufacturer, had, upon his retirement from active business, made the
National Capital his home, and his name had become a household word for
philanthropy, while his twin daughters were both popular in Washington's
gay younger set. Several reporters of local papers, attracted by the
mention of the McIntyre name, as well as by the twins' appearance,
watched the scene with keen expectancy, eager for early morning "copy."

As the Assistant District Attorney rose to question Helen McIntyre, the
Judge addressed him.

"Is the prisoner represented by counsel?" he asked.

For reply the burglar shook his head. Rising slowly to his feet, Philip
Rochester advanced to the man's side.

"If it please the court," he began, "I will take the case for the
prisoner."

His offer received a quick acceptance from the Bench, but the scowl with
which the burglar favored him was not pleasant. Hitching at his frayed
flannel collar, the man partly turned his back on the lawyer and
listened with a heavy frown to Helen's quick answers to the questions
put to h