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By Root 20825 0

answered. 'But the way in which he uttered them gave me a strange and very apprehensive feeling. I received the impression that the man had formed some sinister resolve. But I regret to say I had lost the power of dispassionate thought. I fell into a great rage'--Mr. Cupples's tone was mildly apologetic--'and said a number of foolish things. I reminded him that the law allowed a measure of freedom to wives who received intolerable treatment. I made some utterly irrelevant references to his public record, and expressed the view that such men as he were unfit to live. I said these things, and others as ill-considered, under the eyes, and very possibly within earshot, of half a dozen persons sitting on this veranda. I noticed them, in spite of my agitation, looking at me as I walked up to the hotel again after relieving my mind for it undoubtedly did relieve it,' sighed Mr. Cupples, lying back in his chair.

'And Manderson? Did he say no more?'

'Not a word. He listened to me with his eyes on my face, as quiet as before. When I stopped he smiled very slightly, and at once turned away and strolled through the gate, making for White Gables.' 'And this happened--?' 'On the Sunday morning.'

'Then I suppose you never saw him alive again?'

'No,' said Mr. Cupples. 'Or rather yes--once. It was later in the day, on the golf-course. But I did not speak to him. And next morning he was found dead.'

The two regarded each other in silence for a few moments. A party of guests who had been bathing came up the steps and seated themselves, with much chattering, at a table near them. The waiter approached. Mr. Cupples rose, and, taking Trent's arm, led him to a long tennis-lawn at the side of the hotel.

'I have a reason for telling you all this,' began Mr. Cupples as they paced slowly up and down.

'Trust you for that,' rejoined Trent, carefully filling his pipe again. He lit it, smoked a little, and then said, 'I'll try and guess what your reason is, if you like.'

Mr. Cupples's face of solemnity relaxed into a slight smile. He said nothing.

'You thought it possible,' said Trent meditatively--'may I say you thought it practically certain?--that I should find out for myself that there had been something deeper than a mere conjugal tiff between the Mandersons. You thought that my unwholesome imagination would begin at once to play with the idea of Mrs. Manderson having something to do with the crime. Rather than that I should lose myself in barren speculations about this, you decided to tell me exactly how matters stood, and incidentally to impress upon me, who know how excellent your judgement is, your opinion of your niece. Is that about right?'

'It is perfectly right. Listen to me, my dear fellow,' said Mr. Cupples earnestly, laying his hand on the other's arm. 'I am going to be very frank. I am extremely glad that Manderson is dead. I believe him to have done nothing but harm in the world as an economic factor. I know that he was making a desert of the life of one who was like my own child to me. But I am under an intolerable dread of Mabel being involved in suspicion with regard to the murder. It is horrible to me to think of her delicacy and goodness being in contact, if only for a time, with the brutalities of the law. She is not fitted for it. It would mark her deeply. Many young women of twenty-six in these days could face such an ordeal, I suppose. I have observed a sort of imitative hardness about the products of the higher education of women today which would carry them through anything, perhaps.

I am not prepared to say it is a bad thing in the conditions of feminine life prevailing at present. Mabel, however, is not like that. She is as unlike that as she is unlike the simpering misses that used to surround me as a child. She has plenty of brains; she is full of character; her mind and her tastes are cultivated; but it is all mixed up'-Mr. Cupples waved his hands in a vague gesture--'with ideals of refinement and reservation and womanly mystery. I fear she is not a child of the age. You never knew my wife, Trent. Mabel is