letter written in a scrawling anonymous hand, in
which he was advised to be home by 5:45 as he would find company. The
next thing we heard was the money-order affair, and the next was the
telegram announcing Mr. Stone's death last night, which nearly killed
me; and who knows what will be next?"

The only appropriate words I could command, after Mrs. Stone had
finished, were: "Wonderful woman!" I assure you I was unable to state
just then whether I referred to Mrs. Stone or Nellie Mason. If the
strange story was true, Nellie Mason was wonderfully remarkable. If it
was untrue, then Mrs. Richard Stone was the most remarkable character I
had ever met. I promised to call again in a day or so, and hastily
withdrew to strengthen or unravel the nicely-woven fabric Mrs. Stone
had offered.

Richard Stone had acted so much in sympathy with his beautiful wife,
that I began to think if she was wrong, Richard could not be right
himself; so I determined to know more about him. I called upon the
chief officer of the company where he was employed, and confidentially
asked him what he knew about Stone.

He told me that Stone came from England with the best kind of written
recommendations from several of the oldest established business houses
in London and Norwich; and further, that he had been warmly recommended
by the Young Men's Association, in New York to which he had been
splendidly introduced, and in whom the officers of the association
still retained a deep interest. He was a first-rate business man, and
he thought there could be no more question about his character than
there was about his own.

I told him there were some decidedly singular features about my case;
but, of course, they could possibly all be cleared up without leaving a
blemish on Stone's character. I thought, under all the circumstances,
it would be best to have a frank talk about the matter, and if he still
thought Stone was honest and honorable we would say no more about it.

He was so impressed with the story that he said they could not afford
to retain him, valuable as he was, if there was a probability that he
was not what he should be. But to be sure that they were making no
mistake, they would commence the investigation in England, and at once.
That day a cablegram was forwarded to an agent in London, who was given
full instructions what to do and how to send his report.

Having disposed of Mr. Stone for a brief period I devoted a day or two