on at an
interesting play. She was just as neutral and still; only her face turned
white, and her eyes were wide as stars, and once she gripped the fur of
the Kodiak so hard I expected to see it come down. But I know she failed
to grasp the vital point of the story. I mean the point vital to her. She
doesn't understand enough about law. And I myself slept on it the night
through before I saw. It came the moment I wakened this morning, clear and
sudden as an electric flash. If David Weatherbee was mentally unbalanced
when he made that transfer, the last half interest in the Aurora mine
ought to revert to her."

Feversham started. He lifted his plump hands and let them drop forcibly on
his broad knees. But she did not notice his surprise. They were
approaching the station, and time pressed. "You know it is not a simple
infatuation with Frederic," she hurried on, "to be forgotten tomorrow. He
has loved her passionately from the day he first met her, four years ago.
He can't think of anything else; he never will do anything of credit to
the family until she is his wife. And now, with David Weatherbee safely
buried, it seems reasonably sure. Still, still, Miles, this unexpected
fortune held out to her just now might turn the scales. We have got to
keep it from her, and if those coal claims are coming up for trial, you
must frame some excuse to have them postponed."

"Postponed? Why, we've just succeeded in gaining Federal attention. We've
been waiting five years. We want them settled now. It concerns Frederic as
well as the rest of us."

"True," she answered, "even more. If those patents are allowed, he will
take immediate steps to mine the coal on a large scale. And it came over
me, instantly, on the heels of the first flash, that it was inevitable, if
Mr. Tisdale had taken advantage of David Weatherbee's condition--and his
own story shows the man had lost his mind; he was wandering around
planting make-believe orchards in the snow--you would use the point to
impeach the Government's star witness."

"Impeach the Government's witness?" repeated Feversham, then a sudden
intelligence leaped into his face. "Impeach Hollis Tisdale," he added
softly and laughed.

Presently, as the chauffeur slackened speed, looking for a stand among the
waiting machines at the depot, the attorney said: "If the syndicate sends
Stuart Foster north to the Iditarod, he may be forced to winter there;
that would certainly postpone the trial until