ress them. Maybe after all it's only a woman's silly
intuition. But often I have thought in the past few days about this
illness of my guardian. It was so queer. He was always so careful. And
you know the rich don't often have typhoid."

"You have no reason to suppose that it was not typhoid fever of which he
died?"

She hesitated. "No," she replied, "but if you had known Mr. Bisbee
you would think it strange, too. He had a horror of infectious and
contagious diseases. His apartment and his country home were models. No
sanitarium could have been more punctilious. He lived what one of his
friends called an antiseptic life. Maybe I am foolish, but it keeps
getting closer and closer to me now, and--well, I wish you'd look into
the case. Please set my mind at rest and assure me that nothing is
wrong, that it is all natural."

"I will help you, Miss Bisbee. To-morrow night I want to take a trip
quietly to Bisbee Hall. You will see that it is all right, that I have
the proper letters so I can investigate thoroughly."

I shall never forget the mute and eloquent thanks with which she said
good night after Kennedy's promise.

Kennedy sat with his eyes shaded under his hand for fully an hour after
she had left. Then he suddenly jumped up. "Walter," he said, "let us go
over to Dr. Bell's. I know the head nurse there. We may possibly learn
something."

As we sat in the waiting-room with its thick Oriental rugs and handsome
mahogany furniture, I found myself going back to our conversation of
the early evening. "By Jove, Kennedy, you were right," I exclaimed. "If
there is anything in this germ-plot idea of hers it is indeed the height
of the dramatic--it is diabolical. No ordinary mortal would ever be
capable of it."

Just then the head nurse came in, a large woman breathing of
germlessness and cheerfulness in her spotless uniform. We were shown
every courtesy. There was, in fact, nothing to conceal. The visit set
at rest my last suspicion that perhaps Jim Bisbee had been poisoned by a
drug. The charts of his temperature and the sincerity of the nurse were
absolutely convincing. It had really been typhoid, and there was nothing
to be gained by pursuing that inquiry further.

Back at the apartment, Craig began packing his suitcase with the few
things he would need for a journey. "I'm going out to Bisbee Hall
to-morrow for a few days, Walter, and if you could find it convenient to
come along I should like to have your assista