But when I explained the matter to the
prosecuting attorney, he just smiled."

"I know it's the truth, because you say it." She affectionately patted
the hand that she held. "But, again speaking legally, it wouldn't
sound very plausible to an outsider. But how do you explain the
situation?"

"I think the whole affair must be just a mistake."

"Possibly. But if so, you'll have to be able to prove it." She thought
a space. "Could it be that this is a manufactured charge?"

Doctor West's eyes widened with amazement.

"Why, of course not! You have forgotten that the man who makes the
charge is Mr. Sherman. You surely do not think he would let himself be
involved in anything that he did not believe to be in the highest
degree honourable?"

"I do not know him very well. During the four years he has been here,
I have met him only a few times."

"But you know what your dearest friend thinks of him."

"Yes, I know Elsie considers her husband to be an ecclesiastical Sir
Galahad. And I must admit that he has seemed to me the highest type of
the modern young minister."

"Then you agree with me, that Mr. Sherman is thoroughly honest in this
affair? That his only motive is a sense of public duty?"

"Yes. I cannot conceive of him knowingly doing a wrong."

"That's what has forced me to think it's only just a mistake," said
her father.

"You may be right." She considered the idea. "But what does your
lawyer say?"

His pale cheeks flushed.

"I have no lawyer," he said slowly.

"I see. You were waiting to consult me about whom to retain."

He shook his head.

"Then you have approached some one?"

"I have spoken to Hopkins, and Williams, and Freeman. They all----" He
hesitated.

"Yes?"

"They all said they could not take my case."

"Could not take your case!" she cried. "Why not?"

"They made different excuses. But their excuses were not their real
reason."

"And what was that?"

The old man flushed yet more painfully.

"I guess you do not fully realize the situation, Katherine. I don't
need to tell you that a wave of popular feeling against political
corruption is sweeping across the country. This is the first big case
that has come out in Westville, and the city is stirred up over this
as it hasn't been stirred in years. The way the _Express_----You saw
the _Express_?"

Her hands instinctively clenched.

"It was awful! Awful!"

"The way the _Express_ has handled it has especially--well, you
see--