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from the instrument when the door opened and Madelyn returned.

"She is all right, I assure you!" she cried hastily, as Adolph Van Sutton started from his chair. "I have left her with Mr. Endicott. On the whole, he is the best nurse we could find. Sit down, Mr. Wiley. You will find that rocker more comfortable, Mr. Van Sutton. It is not a long story that I have to tell, but it contains its tragedy—and we have to thank Providence that it isn't a double one!"

She paused, as though marshalling her thoughts. Detective Wiley surveyed her uneasily.

"I am sorry to inform you, Mr. Van Sutton, that your daughter is a widow! Or perhaps—as I wish to be entirely frank—I should say that I am glad to convey this announcement to you!" Her slight, black figure bent forward. "Your daughter's husband was one of the greatest scamps that ever went unpunished!"

"But my daughter never had a husband, Miss Mack! You forget—"

"I forget nothing! Has it ever occurred to you that there might be a chapter in Miss Van Sutton's life unknown to you? Pray keep your seat, my dear sir! You are a man of the world and a father. You have the knowledge of the one and the heart of the other. When I tell you that during your