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"It was either that, or - or, well, some one killed him. There are no two ways about it."

"I believe some one killed him!" burst out Viola. "But I think the authorities have made a horrible mistake in detaining Mr. Bartlett," she added. "Don't you, Mr. Blossom?"

"I - er - I don't know what to think. Your father had some enemies, it is true. Every business man has. And a person with a temper easily aroused, such as - "

LeGrand Blossom stopped suddenly.

"You were about to name some one?" asked Viola.

"Well, I was about to give, merely as an instance, Jean Forette the chauffeur. Not that I think the Frenchman had a thing to do with the matter. But he has a violent temper at times, and again he is as meek as any one I ever knew. But say a person did give way to violent passion, such as I have seen him do at times when something went wrong with the hig, new car, might not such a person, for a fancied wrong, take means of ending the life of a person who had angered him?"

"I never liked Jean Forette," put in Miss Carwell, "and I was glad when I heard Horace was to let him go."

"Do yon think-do you believe he had anything to do with my father's death?" asked Viola quickly.

"Not the least in the world," answered the head clerk hastily. "I just used him as an iliustration."

"But he quarreled with my father," the girl went on. "They had words, I know."

"Yes, they did, and I heard some of them," admitted LeGrand Blossom. "But that passed over, and they were friendly enough the day of the golf game. So there could not have been murder in the heart of that Frenchman. No, I don't mean even to hint at him: hut I believe some one, angry at, and with a grudge against, your father, ended his life."

"I believe that, too!" declared Viola firmly. "And while I feel, as you do, about Jean, still it is a clew that must not be overlooked. I'll tell Colonel Ashley."

I fancy he knows it already," said LeGrand Blossom. "There isn't much that escapes that fisherman."

CHAPTER XIII

CAPTAIN POLAND CONFESSES

When LeGrand Blossom had taken his departure, carrying with him the books and papers, he left behind two very disconsolate persons.

"It's terrible!" exclaimed Mr. Carwell's sister. "To think that poor Horace could be so careless! I knew his sporting life would bring trouble, but I never dreamed of this."

"We must face it, terrible as it is," said Viola. "Nothing would matter if he - if he were only left to us. I'm sure he never meant to spend so much money. It was just because - he didn't think."

"That always was a fault of his," sighed Miss Mary, "even when a boy. It's terrible!"

"It's terrible to have him gone and to think of the terrible way he was taken," sighed Viola. "But any one is likely to lose money."

She no more approved of many of her late father's sporting proclivities than did her aunt, and there were many rather startling stories and rumors that came to Viola as mere whispers to which she turned a deaf ear. Since her mother's death her father had, it was common knowledge, associated with a fast set, and he had been seen in company with persons of both sexes who were rather notorious for their excesses.

"Well, Mr. Blossom will do the best he can, I suppose," said Miss Carwell, with rather an intimation that the head clerk's best would be very bad indeed.

"I'm sure he will," assented Viola. "He knows all the details of poor father's affairs, and he alone can straighten them out. Oh, if we had only known of this before, we might have stopped it."

"But your father was always very close about his matters," said his sister. "He resented even your mother knowing how much money he made, and how. I think she felt that, too, for she liked to have a share in all he did. He was kindness itself to her, but she wanted more than that. She wanted to have a part in his success, and he kept her out - or she felt that he did. Well, I'm sure I hope all mistakes are straightened out in Heaven. It's certain they aren't here."

Viola pondered rather long and deeply on what LeGrand Blossom had told her. She made it a point to go for a