ssion of this kind," was the excuse he gave his wife
and Mr. Steele as he ushered me in.

As neither answered, I considered my presence accepted and sat down
in as remote a corner as offered. Verily the fates were active in my
behalf.

Mayor Packard was about to close the door, when Mrs. Packard suddenly
leaped by him with the cry:

"There's the baby! She must have heard your voice." And rushing into
the hall she came back with the child whom she immediately placed in its
father's arms. Then she slowly seated herself. Not until she had done so
did she turn to Mr. Steele.

"Sit," said she, with a look and gesture her husband would have marveled
at had he not been momentarily occupied with the prattling child.

The secretary bowed and complied. Surely men of such great personal
attractions are few. Instantly the light, shaded though it seemingly
was in all directions, settled on his face, making him, to my astonished
gaze, the leading personality in the group. Was this on account of
the distinction inherent in extreme beauty or because of a new and
dominating expression which had insensibly crept into his features?

The mayor, and the mayor only, seemed oblivious to the fact. Glancing up
from the child, he opened the conference by saying: "Tell Mrs. Packard,
Steele, what you have just told me."

With a quiet shifting of his figure which brought him into a better line
with the woman he was asked to address, the secretary opened his lips to
reply when she, starting, reached out one hand and drew toward herself
the little innocent figure of her child, which she at once placed
between herself and him. Seeing this, I recalled the scraps of cipher
left in my room above and wished I had succeeded in determining their
meaning, if only to understand the present enigmatical situation.

Meanwhile Mr. Steele was saying in the mellow tone of a man accustomed
to tune his voice to suit all occasions: "Mrs. Packard will excuse me
if I seem abrupt. In obedience to commands laid upon me by his Honor,
I spent both Tuesday and Wednesday in inquiries as to the origin of
the offensive paragraph which appeared in Monday's issue of the Leader.
Names were given me, but too many of them. It took me two days to sift
these down to one, and when I had succeeded in doing this, it was only
to find that the man I sought was ninety miles away. Madam, I journeyed
those ninety miles to learn that meanwhile he had returned to this city.
While I was