are to report to you. Is that it?"

"Exactly."

The speakers are Lawyer O'Meara and "Mr. Wedron, of the New York Bar;"
for more than an hour they have been seated in the lawyer's study,
conversing in low, earnest tones; and during this interval, O'Meara's
valuation of his _vis-a-vis_ has evidently "taken a rise," and stands
now at a high premium. His spirits have risen, too; he views the case of
Clifford Heath through a new lens; evidently he recognizes, in the man
before him, a strong ally.

It is arranged that, for the present, Mr. Wedron shall retain his room
at the hotel, but shall pass the most of his time with the O'Mearas, and
the uninitiated are to fancy him an old friend, as well as a brother
practitioner. Even Mrs. O'Meara is obliged to accept this version, while
inwardly wondering that she has never heard her husband mention his
friend, "Wedron, of the New York Bar."

Evidently they trust each other, these two men, and, as O'Meara has just
said, their mutual understanding is sufficient unto the hour. Therefore,
it being already sunset, they go together to the parlor, and are soon
seated, in company with Mrs. O'Meara, about a cosy tea table.

"It is best that Vandyck should not see me here until after your
interview with Heath," Mr. Wedron has said to the little lawyer;
therefore when, a little later, Ray puts in an appearance, he sees only
O'Meara, and is immediately hurried away toward the county jail.

They find Corliss at the sheriff's desk, his superior officer having
been for several days absent from the town. The constable looks relieved
and fatigued. He believes that within the hour he, single handed, has
conveyed into safe custody one of the most ferocious assassins of his
time; and, having gained so signal a victory, he now feels inclined to
take upon himself airs, and he hesitates, becomingly, over O'Meara's
civilly worded request to be shown to the cell assigned Doctor Heath.

[Illustration: They find Corliss at the Sheriff's desk.]

But O'Meara, who possesses all the brusqueness of the average Yankee
lawyer, has no mind to argue the case.

"I don't know, sir," says Corliss, with some pomposity. "Really, I
consider Heath a very unsafe prisoner, and--"

"The deuce you do," breaks in the impatient lawyer. "Well, I'll promise
that _Doctor_ Heath shan't damage you any, so just trot ahead with your
keys, and don't parley. _My_ time is worth something."

Corliss slips down from his stool and