. Then her eyes gleamed with a new light; and
obeying an impulse she asked:

"Are you acquainted with political conditions in Westville?"

"Me acquainted with----" He cackled. "Why, I've been setting at my
office window looking down on the political circus of this town ever
since Noah run aground on Mount Ararat."

She leaned forward eagerly.

"Then you know how things stand?"

"To a T."

"Tell me, is there any rotten politics, any graft or corruption going
on?" She flushed. "Of course, I mean except what's charged against my
father."

"When Blind Charlie Peck was in power, there was more graft and
dirty----"

"Not then, but now?" she interrupted.

"Now? Well, of course you know that since Blake run Blind Charlie out
of business ten years ago, Blake has been the big gun in this town."

"Yes, I know."

"Then you must know that in the last ten years Westville has been
text, sermon, and doxology for all the reformers in the state."

"But could not corruption be going on without Mr. Blake knowing it?
Could not Mr. Peck be secretly carrying out some scheme?"

"Blind Charlie? Blind Charlie ain't dead yet, not by a long sight--and
as long as there's a breath in his carcass, that good-natured old
blackguard is likely to be a dangerous customer. But though Charlie's
still the boss of his party, he controls no offices, and has got no
real power. He's as helpless as Satan was after he'd been kicked out
of heaven and before he'd landed that big job he holds on the floor
below. Nowadays, Charlie just sits in his side office over at the
Tippecanoe House playing seven-up from breakfast till bedtime."

"Then you think there's no corrupt politics in Westville?" she asked
in a sinking voice.

"Not an ounce of 'em!" said Old Hosie with decision.

This agreed with the conviction that had been growing upon Katherine
during the last few days. While she had entertained suspicion of there
being corruption, she had several times considered the advisability of
putting a detective on the case. But this idea she now abandoned.

After this talk with the old lawyer, Katherine was forced back again
upon misunderstanding. She went carefully over the records of her
father's department, on file in the Court House, seeking some item
that would cast light upon the puzzle. She went over and over the
indictment, seeking some loose end, some overlooked inconsistency,
that would yield her at least a clue.

For days she kept doggedly at