I KEEPING WELL MEANS 1 A CONSTANT FIGHT I ■ AGAINST CATARRH J Maay air to hide his lack of experi ence. He was naturally acute and shrewd, but his mind just now was occupied more with the manner than the matter of his procedure. He had studied well j his book of rules, and it was with great dignity that he called for | the police report on the case. The testimony of the chief of police and the police surgeon set' forth the principal known facts,j which were, however, lamentably1 few. Even the coroner’s intelli-j gent questions failed to bring out! more than the story of the tele- j phone message, the account of the finding of the body and the 5 nature of the mime. “Do you assume the assa..ant to have been righthanded?” Berg asked the surgeon. “Apparently, yes. But not necessarily so. The blade pene-j trated the victim’s left breast, amd was-most Rkely dealt by a( peneon standing directly facing; him.” j “Was the thrust directed with an upward slant or down- ■ ward ?’ ’ “Neither. It was just about level. It slanted; however, to ward the middle of the body, from the left side, thus practi cally proving a right-handed use! of the weapon.” “Was death instantaneous?” j “Probably not: But it must have occurred very shortly after the blow.” Doctor Pulton, the family physician, corroborated the re port of the police surgeon in all its essentials. u “Was Mr. Trowbridge in gen eral good health, so far as you know?” asked the coroner. “Absolutely. He was strong, hale and hearty, always. I have k'.own him for yeais, and he was iw\ver seriously ill.” “And strong?” “Of average strength;” “Would you not judge then, he could have resisted this at tack?” “Undoubtedly he tried to do so. There is some indication of a muscular struggle. But the assumption must be that the as sailant was a stronger man than the victim. “How do you explain his con torted features, even in death?” “By the fact that he was sur prised and overpowered, and his dying struggles were so desper ate as to leave their mark.” “You do not attribute the ex pression on the dead face to any terrific mental emotion at the moment of death?” “It may be so. Indeed, it may be the result of both mental and physical agony.” “The point is important,” said the coroner, with an im pressive wave of his hand. “For if mental, it might mean that the man who attacked him was known to him; while merely would imply a The jurymen wagged their Jihads wisely at this sapient re mark, as if it opened up a new field of conjecture. Avice was questioned next. She was a little startled at the suddenness of the call, but re sponded clearly and with an en tirely collected manner to all queries. “You are Mr. Trowbridge’s niece?” “Yes, the daughter of his younger brother.” “You make your home here?” “Yes.” “How long have you done so?” “Since childhood. My par ents died before I was 10 years old.” “And you are your uncle’s heiress?” Judge Hoyt looked a little an noyed at the baldness of this question, but Avice replied, se renely, “To the extent of part of his fortune.” “Can you tell me any details of the last day of your uncle’s life?” “Very few. He left home in the morning to go to his business office quite as usual. He gen erally returns about 5 o’clock. When he did not arrive at that time, I felt anxious, and later, called Judge Hoyt on the tele phone to ask if he had seen or heard of my uncle.” “Why did you call Judge Hoyt ? ’ ’ “He was not only my uncle’s lawyer, but his personal friend. They had business to transact at times, and I thought my uncle might possibly have gone to see him. Wf ien I learned that Judge Hoyt knew nothing of my uncle’s whereabouts, I asked him to come here, as I felt decidedly uneasy and wanted some one to confer with in whom I felt confidence.” “Had Mr. Trowbridge mani fested any unusual tendencies or habits of late?” “None whatever. He has been well, happy and quite as usual in every way.” “Can you form any opinion or have you any suspicion as to who might have committed this* crime ? ’ ’ “Absolutely none. But I have an unflinching dstermination to iind out, at any expense of time, labor or money!” The girl’s voice rang out in a high, sharp tone, and she clenched her slender hands until the knuckles showed through the white skin. We all have that determina tion, Miss Trowbridge,” said the coroner, a little stiffly, and after a few unimportant questions, Avice was dismissed. Mrs. Black was called next. This time it was a ease of dia mond cut diamond. If the coro ner was self-important, he was no more so than his witness. If he spoke with pomposity she an swered with disdain, and if he was dictatorial she was arro gant. ‘‘You are housekeeper here?” Berg began. ‘‘That is my position, but I was also the fiancee of the late Mr. Trowbridge and should have been his wife next month, had he lived so longC’ ‘ ‘ Confine your answers, please, to the questions asked.” ‘‘Your question required two I statements in reply.” i ‘‘You are a beneficiary under the will of Mr. Trowbridge?” [ ‘‘I hav% not yet heatd the will I read.'^^ ----- “Do you not knowf” “I know only what Mr. Trow bridge himself told me." Y “And that was?” “That I should inherit a handsome sum, in addition to this house and its contents.” “In the event of your being his wife?” “In the event of his death.” } A “Do you know anything fur-J ther than we have heard of Mr. Trowbridge's movements on th# day that he met his death?” “I do,—a little.” Eleanor Black bfrdled and smiled sadly. The jurymen gazed in involun tary admiration, for the feat ures of the beautiful brunet took on an added charm from that slight smile. “What is it?” “He telephoned to me about 2 o’clock, saying he would be home early and we would go out for a little motor ride. He was very found of motoring,—with me.” The last two words were added in a lower tone that implied a most romantic attachment be tween these two. “He intended to leave his of fice shortly after noon, then?” “Possibly it was a little later than 2 that he called me up. [ don’t remember exactly. But he said he would be home by 3 or 4.” '• j “And when he did not appear were you not alarmed?” “No, Mr. Trowbridge was so apt to have unexpected business matters turn up, that I merely supposed that was the ease, and thought nothing strange of it. Nor was I surprised when he did not appear at 6. I felt sure, then that some important develop ment in his affairs had kept him down town so late.” “Miss Trowbridge was greatly alarmed ?” “Yes.” The superb indifference ot Eleanor Black’s manner showed clearly that it was a matter of no moment to her if another had been anxious. “Have you any suspicion as to who could have done this thing?” The great black eyes of the witness turned slowly toward _ the coroner. At the remark about Avice she had looked care lessly in another direct io> “I think not,” she said. “Are you not sure?” “What do you mean by sr» picion??” “Do you know of anybody who might have killed Mr. Trow bridge?” “That’s no question!” Her scorn was marked. “Hundreds of people might have killed him. ” “Do you know of any one, then, who you think would be likely to have done so?” ‘ ‘ Likely to ? Goodness, no. ’ ’ “Who possiblv did do so* then?” “Possibly?” “Yes, possibly, fs there any one whom you can definitely! consider a possible suspect?” “No; I don’t know of any one.” The widow was a most pro voking witness. She gave au impression of holding something back, yet her face wore an in genuous expression and she pouted a little, as if unfairly ad dressed. “You were at home all day yesterday?” the eoronor went on. “Yes, I expected Mr. Trow bridge, so of eourse I did not go out.” “Why, Eleanor,” exclaimed Avice, impulsively, “you went out for an hour soon after lun cheon. Don’t you know, I gave you a letter to post?” “Oh, yes, I forgot that,” and Mrs. Black looked a trifle con fused. “I was sure Mr. Trow bridge wouldn’t get here before 3, so I ran out for a few mo ments.” ‘Where did you go?” “Oh, nowhere in particular. I only went to get a little air. .lust walking around the adjacent blocks.’’ She spoke lightly, but her heightened color and quick [ ened breathing betokened an em barrassment which she strove not to show, and, too, she east a glance at Avice that was any thing but friendly. The coroner seemed unable to think of anything else to ask the witness. He looked at her thoughtfully, and she returned his glance coolly, but he ques tioned her no further just then. The butler came next, and hia testimony was garbled and in coherent. His emotion frequent ly overcame him, and he was un- -r able to speak. (To be continued next week.) Official returns show the election of a fourth woman to the, Kansas huuse w of representative*.