rs. Wilson. "I remember
it was six minutes late, and I did think my dinner would be dry as a
bone, for she said she couldn't stay----"

"And that was his birthday," Garrison interrupted.

"Oh, no. His birthday was the day he died. I remember, 'cause he
wouldn't even open the box of cigars till after his dinner that day."

Garrison felt his remaining ray of hope faintly flicker and expire.

"You are sure the box wasn't opened?" he insisted.

"I guess I am! He borrowed my screwdriver out of the sewin'-machine
drawer, where I always keep it, to pry up the cover."

Garrison tacked to other items.

"Why did she have to go so soon?" he inquired. "Couldn't she have
stayed here with you?"

"What, a young thing like her, only just married?" demanded Mrs.
Wilson, faintly blushing. "I guess you don't know us women when we're
in love." And she blushed again.

"Of course," answered Garrison, at a loss for a better reply. "Did her
uncle seem pleased with her marriage?"

"Why, he sat where you're now settin' for one solid hour, tellin' me
how tickled he felt," imparted the housewife. "He said she'd git
everything he had in the world, now that she was married happy to a
decent man, for he'd fixed it all up in his will."

"Mr. Hardy said his niece would inherit his money?"

"Settin' right in that chair, and smilin' fit to kill."

"Did the niece seem very fond of her uncle?"

"Well, at first I thought she acted queer and nervous," answered Mrs.
Wilson, "but I made up my mind that was the natural way for any young
bride to feel, especial away from her husband."

Garrison's hopes were slipping from him, one by one, and putting on
their shrouds.

"Did Mr. Hardy seem to be pleased with his niece's selection--with Mr.
Fairfax?" he inquired. "Or don't you know?"

"Why, he never even _seen_ the man," replied Mrs. Wilson. "It seems
Mr. Fairfax was mixin' up business with his honeymoon, and him and his
bride was goin' off again, or was on their way, and she had a chance to
run up and see her uncle for an hour, and none of us so much as got a
look at Mr. Fairfax."

The mystery darkened rather than otherwise. There was nothing yet to
establish whether or not a real Mr. Fairfax existed. It appeared to
Garrison that Dorothy had purposely arranged the scheme of her alleged
marriage and honeymoon in such a way that her uncle should not meet her
husband.

He tried another query:

"Did Mr. Hardy say that he had neve