citement, Gifford put aside his hat and
stick and sat down. "Let's hear it," he said quietly.

"Well, another unaccountable thing has, it appears, happened at Wynford
Place. A pendant, or whatever you call it, to that which has been
troubling Muriel. What do you think? As I was riding along the Loxford
road this afternoon I met Dick Morriston, and he told me that another
discovery of blood-stains has been made at Wynford. On a girl's
ball-dress too. And on whose do you suppose it is?"

"Not Miss Morriston's?" Gifford suggested breathlessly.

Kelson nodded, with a slight look of surprise at the correctness of the
guess. "Yes. Isn't it queer? Poor old Dick is in rather a way about it,
and I must say the whole business is decidedly mysterious."

Gifford was thinking keenly. "How did it come out? Who found the
marks?" he asked.

"Well," Kelson answered, "it appears that Edith Morriston's maid found
them some days ago, in fact the day after a similar discovery had been
made on Muriel's gown. She had brought the dress which her mistress had
worn at the Hunt Ball out of the wardrobe where it hung, in order to fold
it away. She appears to have spread it on the bed where the sun shone on
it and in the strong light she noticed on the dark material some
brownish discolorations. With what had happened about the other dress in
her mind, she examined the marks closely, and with such intentness as to
raise the curiosity of a housemaid who happened to come into the room. At
first Miss Morriston's maid tried to put her off, but the other girl, who
was sharp-eyed, had seen the marks, was not to be hood-winked, and the
mischief was done. The housemaid seems to be a foolish, babbling
creature, and the discovery soon became the talk of the servants' hall,
whence it spread till it reached the police."

"And what are they doing about it?" Gifford asked.

"Morriston says they've had a detective up at the house examining the
gown; being so utterly at sea over the affair the police are doubtless
glad to catch at anything. There seems little question that the stains
are blood, and that makes the whole business still more puzzling. Dick
Morriston is naturally very exercised about it, but I am very glad for
Muriel's sake that the second discovery has been made. In fact I have
been just waiting till I saw you before riding over to tell her of it,
and relieve her mind."

"Yes," Gifford responded mechanically, "of course it removes any serious