ly
on his hand, and he was heaped up in an awkward position in the cramped
lecture-room seat. It seemed an age as Dr. Leslie tried to adjust the
stethoscope. Even Craig felt the excitement. While the commissioner
hesitated, Kennedy reached over and impatiently switched on the electric
light in full force.

As the light flooded the room, blinding us for the instant, the large
form of Dr. Leslie stood between us and the lawyer.

"What does the stethoscope tell you, Doctor?" asked Craig, leaning
forward expectantly. He was as unprepared for the answer as any of us.

"It tells me that a higher court than those of New York has passed
judgment on this astounding criminal. The aneurism has burst."

I felt a soft weight fall on my shoulder. The Morning Star did not have
the story, after all. I missed the greatest "scoop" of my life seeing
Eveline Bisbee safely to her home after she had recovered from the shock
of Denny's exposure and punishment.

IV. The Deadly Tube

"For Heaven's sake, Gregory, what is the matter?" asked Craig Kennedy
as a tall, nervous man stalked into our apartment one evening. "Jameson,
shake hands with Dr. Gregory. What's the matter, Doctor? Surely your
X-ray work hasn't knocked you out like this?"

The doctor shook hands with me mechanically. His hand was icy. "The blow
has fallen," he exclaimed, as he sank limply into a chair and tossed an
evening paper over to Kennedy.

In red ink on the first page, in the little square headed "Latest News,"
Kennedy read the caption, "Society Woman Crippled for Life by X-Ray
Treatment."

"A terrible tragedy was revealed in the suit begun today," continued the
article, "by Mrs. Huntington Close against Dr. James Gregory, an X-ray
specialist with offices at Madison Avenue, to recover damages for
injuries which Mrs. Close alleges she received while under his care.
Several months ago she began a course of X-ray treatment to remove a
birthmark on her neck. In her complaint Mrs. Close alleges that Dr.
Gregory has carelessly caused X-ray dermatitis, a skin disease of
cancerous nature, and that she has also been rendered a nervous wreck
through the effects of the rays. Simultaneously with filing the suit she
left home and entered a private hospital. Mrs. Close is one of the most
popular hostesses in the smart set, and her loss will be keenly felt."

"What am I to do, Kennedy?" asked the doctor imploringly. "You remember
I told you the other day about this case