e fear of the charge being placed
at the door of some one else.

"And who could that some one else be but the one," kept repeating in the
big athlete's brain. "Who could it be but"--here he'd feel a sudden
snapping in the nerves of his head, and the blood cells would gorge and
thunder--"who but she who went to see him to-day--after the news came
out that a woman was suspected."

Leg-weary and with an exhausted mind, Bat reached his gymnasium. Danny,
the red-haired office boy, was there, and looked at his employer almost
incredulously.

"Gee, boss, you look all in," he told him. "You ought to get Sebastian
to give you a going over."

Sebastian was a huge Bohemian rubber, and Scanlon agreed to accept his
ministrations. After a bath and a shower, the Bohemian kneaded and
punched some suppleness into him; an hour's sleep followed this, and he
was pleased to find himself in a mood for dinner.

"Good!" said he. "That's the right spirit. Being down in the mouth never
helped any one yet. There still seem to be a few things to do in this
case, and it's up to me to do them. So I'd better be fit if I'm going to
get away with them."

It was while at dinner that an idea came to him like an electric shock.
He would go see Nora; he would talk to her; if quite necessary he'd tell
her all the things he knew and all those he suspected. And what she said
in reply he'd believe; every word would be held to by him, absolutely.
No matter what came or went, after that, he'd believe nothing else.

"Why didn't I think of that before?" he asked himself, elated. "It's
just the thing to settle it all. The great trouble with this affair is
that there hasn't been enough plain talk. A little bit more might have
cleared things up completely."

He smoked contentedly for a space after dinner; then he proceeded to
Nora's house. The trim maid answered his ring.

"Yes; Miss Cavanaugh is at home."

Scanlon waited in the large old-fashioned reception-room while his name
was taken up. Then the maid reappeared and led him to Nora's private
sitting-room. Here he found her in a robe of silk and lace reclining
upon a sofa, propped up with gay pillows, a book beside her. She held
out one hand to him; the loose sleeve fell back, showing a beautiful
arm, white and firm, and rounded magnificently.

"Oh, I'm glad to see you, Bat!" she said, and her tone and eyes
confirmed the truth of her words. "It's been days and days since you
were here, I think. I've