and felt it all over; then,
gasping, he parted the curtains and looked into the berth. He stared;
his breath whistled out; his shoulders jerked, and he drew back,
instinctively pressing his two clenched hands against his chest and the
pocket which held President Jarvis' order.

The man in the berth was lying on his right side facing the aisle; the
left side of his face was thus exposed; and it had been crushed in by a
violent blow from some heavy weapon which, too blunt to cut the skin
and bring blood, had fractured the cheekbone and bludgeoned the temple.
The proof of murderous violence was so plain that the conductor, as he
saw the face in the light, recoiled with starting eyes, white with
horror.

He looked up and down the aisle to assure himself that no one had
entered the car during his examination; then he carefully drew the
curtains together again, and hurried to the forward end of the car
where he had left the porter.

"Lock the rear door of the car," he commanded. "Then come back here."

He gave the negro the keys, and himself waited to prevent any one from
entering the car at his end. Looking through the glass of the door, he
saw the young man Eaton standing in the vestibule of the car next
ahead. Connery hesitated; then he opened the door and beckoned Eaton
to him.

"Will you go forward, please," he requested, "and see if there isn't a
doctor--"

"You mean the man with red hair in my car?" Eaton inquired.

"That's the one."

Eaton started off without asking any questions. The porter, having
locked the rear door of the car, returned and gave Connery back the
keys. Connery still waited, until Eaton returned with the red-haired
man, "D. S." He let them in and locked the door behind them.

"You are a doctor?" Connery questioned the red-haired man.

"I am a surgeon; yes."

"That's what's wanted. Doctor--"

"My name is Sinclair. I am Douglas Sinclair, of Chicago."

Connery nodded. "I have heard of you." He turned then to Eaton. "Do
you know where the gentleman is who belongs to Mr. Dorne's
party?--Avery, I believe his name is."

"He is in the observation car," Eaton answered.

"Will you go and get him? The car-door is locked. The porter will let
you in and out. Something serious has happened here--to Mr. Dorne.
Get Mr. Avery, if you can, without alarming Mr. Dorne's daughter."

Eaton nodded understanding and followed the porter, who, taking the
keys again from the conductor, let