ng added, were those of Mrs. Darcy and her cousin, James
Darcy, and it was evident that a quarrel was in progress. Asked as to
the nature of the dispute King had said he had heard mentioned several
times the name "Amy." There was also something said about money and an
"electric lathe."

Naturally there was an inquiry as to who "Amy" was, and what was meant
by the electric lathe. Darcy answered with seeming frankness that the
Amy in question was Miss Mason, daughter of Adrian Mason, wealthy
stockman of Pompey, a village about ten miles from Colchester. Mr.
Mason had what was often referred to as a "show place," with blooded
horses and cattle, and he was quite a financial figure in Monroe
county, of which Colchester was the county seat.

Besides this, Amy was well off in her own right, her uncle having left
her a half interest in a valuable mine.

James Darcy and Amy Mason were engaged to be married, though this fact
was known to but few, and made quite a sensation when Darcy admitted it
after his arrest. He and Amy had known each other since childhood, and
when small had lived near each other.

Mr. Mason, in spite of his wealth, was a democratic man, and though he
knew, and Amy also, that she might have married wealth and position,
both were "passed up," to quote the stockman himself, in favor of a
real love match. For that is what it was.

"He's a _man_, that's what James Darcy is!" Amy's father had said, when
some one hinted that he had neither wealth nor family of which to
boast. "He's a _man_! He's got all the family he needs. What's a
family good for, anyhow, after you're grown up? As for money, I've got
more than I need, and Amy's got a little nest-egg of her own. Besides,
Darcy can earn his living, which is a hanged sight more than some of
these dancing lizards can do if they were put to it."

It developed that the words over Amy which had occurred, just before
the murder, between James Darcy and his cousin, had to do with the
difference in the worldly prospects of the two young people. Mrs.
Darcy had rather laughed at him, James said, for thinking of marrying a
girl so much wealthier than he was.

"What did you tell her?" asked Carroll. "I mean your cousin."

"I told her I could support my wife decently well, if not in such state
as that to which she was accustomed in her father's house. As for
style, neither Miss Mason nor I care for it. And, if things go right,
I may be able to bring her