rels
take place all the time between him and Ross, and he has threatened to
disinherit him if he continues in such mad practices."

Mr. Narkom nodded vigorously several times.

"Aha! now we have come to the root of the affair altogether," he said
with some satisfaction. "That was the point I was waiting for. Your
father has actually volunteered that statement, Miss Duggan?"

"He has. And in my presence."

"And how does your brother Ross take it?"

"Ross has the family temper, Mr. Narkom. Ross said hot words which he
should never have uttered, and then dashed off to his fiancee's house,
three miles distant--a sweet girl, whom we all love--and did not come
back until the next afternoon."

"I see, I see. A very unpleasant affair altogether. And you, naturally
loving your brother, Miss Duggan, have pieced things together, and have
now come to me to see what I can do for you? I must have a few minutes
to think this over." A finger touched the bell at his side. Almost
immediately a head appeared and Mr. Narkom gave his orders. "Tell Mr.
Deland to come here, Petrie. I want to speak to him."

"Very good, sir."

"And now, to look the thing straight in the face. You can bring me no
actual proof of guilt upon your stepmother's part but your own love for
your brother and your woman's intuition, added to what you have seen.
One can bank upon a woman's intuition very often--but not in a case of
this sort. That you will readily understand. However, something is
obviously wrong and wants looking into. So I've sent for one of my best
men, Miss Duggan, and if he thinks enough of the case to take it up, I
will entrust the matter entirely to him. He happens to have looked in
this morning, luckily, and--here he is!"

Even as he spoke, the door opened, and Mr. Deland came in. He was a
tallish, well-set-up man, with eyes neither green nor gray, but with
that something in the bearing of him which mutely stands sponsor for the
thing called Birth. And he was dressed in the trappings of the average
young-man-about-town. Anything more unlike a police officer or a private
detective would be difficult to imagine.

Mr. Narkom crossed over to him and, drawing him aside, with a muttered
apology to the anxious-faced girl who watched him, spoke a few words in
a low tone into his ear. Mr. Deland's expression changed from feigned
interest to the real thing. The two men spoke again for a few moments in
the same low-toned voices, and then Mr. Nar