154
XIII THE EMPTY HOUSE 171
XIV IN THE OPEN 192
XV CHECKMATE! 207
XVI THE LIBRARY CHAIR 224
XVII THE RESCUE 240
XVIII THE TRAP 255
XIX THE UNSEEN LISTENER 272
XX THE CREVICE 290
XXI CLEARED SKIES 308

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

"I supposed that father was working late over some
papers and I knew that I must not disturb him." Frontispiece

With the cunning of a Jimmy Valentine he manipulated
the tumblers. Ramon Hamilton, his discomfiture
forgotten, watched with breathless interest. 94

Her head was thrown back, her eyes blazing: and as she
faced him, she slowly raised her arm and pointed a
steady finger at the recoiling figure. 262

THE CREVICE

CHAPTER I

PENNINGTON LAWTON AND THE GRIM REAPER

Had New Illington been part of an empire instead of one of the most
important cities in the greatest republic in the world, the cry "The
King is dead! Long live the King!" might well have resounded through
its streets on that bleak November morning when Pennington Lawton was
found dead, seated quietly in his arm-chair by the hearth in the
library, where so many vast deals of national import had been first
conceived, and the details arranged which had carried them on and on
to brilliant consummation.

Lawton, the magnate, the supreme power in the financial world of the
whole country, had been suddenly cut down in his prime.

The news of his passing traveled more quickly than the extras which
rolled damp from the presses could convey it through the avenues and
alleys of the city, whose wealthiest citizen he had been, and through
the highways and byways of the country, which his marvelous mentality
and finesse had so manifestly strengthened in its position as a world
power.

At the banks and trust companies there were hurriedly-called
directors' meetings, where men sat about long mahogany tables, and
talked constrainedly a