en a fellow of convivial habits at college, and about two years
after their marriage his wife suddenly became aware of what had
long been well known in Williston, that Vanderdyke was paying marked
attention to a woman named Miss Laporte in New York.

"No sooner had Laura Vanderdyke learned of this intimacy of her
husband," continued Whitney, "than she quietly hired private detectives
to shadow him, and on their evidence she obtained a divorce. The papers
were sealed, and she resumed her maiden name.

"As far as I can find out, Vanderdyke then disappeared from her life. He
resigned his position with the railroad and joined a party of engineers
exploring the upper Amazon. Later he went to Venezuela. Miss Laporte
also went to South America about the same time, and was for a time in
Venezuela, and later in Peru.

"Vanderdyke seems to have dropped all his early associations completely,
though at present I find he is back in New York raising capital for
a company to exploit a new asphalt concession in the interior of
Venezuela. Miss Laporte has also reappeared in New York as Mrs. Ralston,
with a mining claim in the mountains of Peru."

"And Templeton?" asked Craig. "Had he had any previous matrimonial
ventures?"

"No, none. Of course he had had love affairs, mostly with the
country-club set. He had known Miss Laporte pretty well, too, while he
was in law school in New York. But when he settled down to work he seems
to have forgotten all about the girls for a couple of years or so. He
was very anxious to get ahead, and let nothing stand in his way. He was
admitted to the bar and taken in by his father as junior member of the
firm of Templeton, Mills & Templeton. Not long ago he was appointed
a special master to take testimony in the get-rich-quick-company
prosecutions, and I happen to know that he was making good in the
investigation."

Kennedy nodded. "What sort of fellow personally was Templeton?" he
asked.

"Very popular," replied the district attorney, "both at the country
club and in his profession in New York. He was a fellow of naturally
commanding temperament--the Templetons were always that way. I doubt if
many young men even with his chances could have gained such a reputation
at thirty-five as his. Socially he was very popular, too, a great
catch for all the sly mamas of the country club who had marriageable
daughters. He liked automobiles and outdoor sports, and he was strong in
politics, too. That was how