solicitous of the poor girl's welfare.

"Now I happened to be in London, and on one of your father's visits to
town, Benton, his friend, introduced us. Naturally I had no knowledge of
the plot which Benton and Howell had formed, and finding your father
a very agreeable gentleman, I invited him to the furnished flat I had
taken at Queen's Gate. I went to the theatre with him on two occasions,
Benton accompanying us, and then your father returned to the country.
One day, about two months later Howell happened to be in London, and
presumably they decided that the plot was ripe for execution, for they
asked me to write to Mr. Henfrey at Woodthorpe, and suggest that he
should come to London, have an early supper with us, and go to a big
charity ball at the Albert Hall. In due course I received a wire from
Mr. Henfrey, who came to London, had supper with me, Benton and Howell
being also present, while Howell's small closed car, which he always
drove himself, was waiting outside to take us to the ball."

Then she paused and drew a long breath, as though the recollection of
that night horrified her--as indeed it did.

"After supper I rose and left the room to speak to my servant for a
moment, when, just as I re-entered, I saw Howell, who was standing
behind Mr. Henfrey's chair, suddenly bend, place his left arm around
your father's neck, and with his right hand press on the nape of the
neck just above his collar. 'Here!' your father cried out, thinking it
was a joke, 'what's the game?' But the last word was scarcely audible,
for he collapsed across the table. I stood there aghast. Howell,
suddenly noticing me, told me roughly to clear out, as I was not wanted.
I demanded to know what had happened, but I was told that it did not
concern me. My idea was that Mr. Henfrey had been drugged, for he was
still alive and apparently dazed. I afterwards heard, however, that
Howell had pressed the needle of a hypodermic syringe containing a newly
discovered and untraceable poison which he had obtained in secret from a
certain chemist in Frankfort, who makes a speciality of such things."

"And what happened then?" asked Hugh, aghast and astounded at the story.

"Benton and Howell sent me out of the room. They waited for over an
hour. Then Howell went down to the car. Afterwards, when all was clear,
they half carried poor Mr. Henfrey downstairs, placed him in the car,
and drove away. Next day I heard that my guest had been found by a
con