eone told us, however, that Wyndham had probably decided to remain in
town over night.

Allison was perhaps a little older than I had imagined, rather a grave
young man who seemed to take his club responsibilities on the Council
very seriously.

"I'd like to talk to you about this Evans case," began Craig when we had
been introduced.

"Glad to tell you all I know," he responded cordially. "It isn't much,
I'm afraid. It's terrible--terrible. We don't know what to think. My
sister is all broken up by it, poor girl."

He led the way over to a corner, in a sort of bow window, and we sat
down on the hard leather cushions.

"No, there isn't much I can say," he resumed. "You see, one of the
recreations of the younger set at the Club is boxing--that's about all
there was to it--not the amateurish thing one usually sees, but real
scientific boxing.

"Fraser had adopted the so-called Fitzsimmons shift--you know, the right
foot forward, while the left hand shoots out from somewhere near the
hip, plunging at close range into the pit of the stomach."

Allison rose to illustrate it. "Irving, on the other hand, had been
advocating the Jeffries crouch as the only safeguard to meet it,--like
that."

He threw himself into position and went on, "The bout had been arranged,
accordingly, and it was _some_ bout, too. Most of us here are fond of
boxing to keep fit.

"Well, at last Fraser got under his guard, I suppose you'd call it. He
landed. For an instant, Irving stood up straight, his hands helplessly
extended. Most of us thought he was fooling and Fraser jumped back,
laughing at the way his contention had worked out. Then, slowly,
struggling as if against the inevitable, Irving bent forward and toppled
over on his face.

"That's where we woke up. We rushed forward and picked him up,
apparently unconscious, and carried him to the locker-room. There was a
good deal of excitement. Someone telephoned for a doctor, but couldn't
seem to find one at home."

"Did you see anything peculiar take place in the locker-room?" asked
Kennedy, following keenly.

"Anything peculiar?"

"Yes--anyone near him, perhaps--another blow--while he was unconscious."

"No--and I think I would have seen anything that was out of the way. I
was there almost all the time--until someone told me my sister was
upstairs and suggested that I was the best one to break the news to
her."

"I'd like to look over the gymnasium and locker-room," suggested Crai