ehension.

"Nurr telegram, Mars' Arnold."

I snatched it from him and ripped it open, hoping against hope that at
last a clue had turned up.

"NEW YORK, May 25.
"Post-Dispatch wants correspondent on spot. If you have any facts
to give out, save them for me. Arrive Lambert Junction three-fifty.
"TERENCE K. PATTEN."

Under the terrible strain of the past six days I had completely
forgotten Terry's existence and now the memory of his cool impertinence
came back to me with a rush. For the first moment I felt too angry to
think; I had not credited even his presumption with anything like this.
His interference in the Patterson-Pratt business was bad enough, but he
might have realized that this was a personal matter. He was calmly
proposing to turn this horrible tragedy into a story for the Sunday
papers--and that to a member of the murdered man's own family. Hot with
indignation, I tore the telegram into shreds and stalked into the house.
I paced up and down the hall for fifteen minutes, planning what I should
say to him when he arrived; and then, as I calmed down, I commenced to
see the thing in its true light.

The whole account of the crime to the minutest detail, had already
appeared in every newspaper in the country, together with the most
outrageous stories of Radnor's past career. At least nothing could be
worse than what had already been said. And after all, was not the
truth--any truth--better than these vague suspicions, this terrible
suspense? Terry could find the truth if any man on earth could do it. He
had, I knew, unraveled other tangles as mysterious as this. He was used
to this sort of work, and bringing to the matter a fresh mind, would see
light where it was only darkness to me. I had been under such a terrific
strain for so long and had borne so much responsibility, that the very
thought of having someone with whom I could share it gave me new
strength. My feeling toward him veered suddenly from indignation to
gratitude. His irrepressible confidence in himself inspired me with a
like confidence, and I wondered what I had been thinking of that I had
not sent for him at once. To my jaded mind his promised arrival appeared
better than a clue--it was almost equal to a solution.

CHAPTER XVI

TERRY COMES

The moment I caught sight of Terry as he swung off the train I felt
involuntarily that