," said Duvall, with a frown. "If this thing had kept up for
another week or two, you would have been a complete nervous wreck."

"I am now, I'm afraid," Miss Morton said, sadly. "I don't feel as though
I could act again for a long time."

"Oh, yes, you will. You have youth, and that is everything. And now,
tell me, do you think if you took a look at this woman you might
recognize her?"

The girl shuddered.

"Is she--here?" she asked.

"Yes. In the library."

"You think it would be quite safe?"

"Quite. She can do you no harm while I am here."

"Very well. I will see her if you wish it, but I am very much afraid
that I shall not be able to identify her." Duvall held out his hand.

"Come," he said. "I will take you in."

Miss Morton rose, and walking slowly and with considerable effort, went
with him into the front room. Standing in the doorway, with the
detective beside her, she confronted the two women. They regarded her
with stony indifference.

"Miss Morton," Duvall said, "do you recognize either of these two women
as the one who attacked you in your rooms last night?"

The girl gazed helplessly from Miss Ford to her companion and back
again. Then she slowly shook her head.

"No," she said. "It might have been either of them. They look somewhat
alike. But as for saying which one it was, if it _was_ either of them,
I'm afraid I can't. The woman was veiled. The room was not brightly
lighted. And I was very much frightened."

The look of disappointment in Duvall's face was reflected in that of
both Grace and Mrs. Morton. The two women, on the contrary, seemed
vastly relieved. Miss Norman's mouth curled in rather an ironical smile.

"Are you through with this inquisition now?" she asked. "For if you are,
my friend and myself would like to continue our journey. You have had no
right to bring us here in the first place, and I am strongly considering
making a complaint against you for having done so." She grasped firmly
the umbrella she had held in her hand all the morning, and turned as
though to go. Leary, however, stood before the door.

"You apparently have forgotten," Duvall remarked, going toward her,
"that I still have a charge against you for attacking my wife."

"Very well; make it. I can prove that your wife forcibly entered my
apartment under false pretense, saying that she was collecting money for
the war sufferers in Poland. If I attacked her, it was in self-defense."

"That isn't true," c