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TIB atmosphere of the ofllce thnt
morning was n shade le-s gen
ial thiiu usual. Wo had all
of us fought our way down
town through siiHi a Htonn of wind,
Kii'iw. hIusIi and sleet as Is to bo found
nowhere save in tnld-.Miireh New York,
and our tempers liad sulTered accord
ingly. 1 had found a cab uuol)talual)le,
and there was, of course, the inevitable
jam on the elevated, with the trains
many minutes behind the schedule. 1
was some half hour late In conse
quence, and when 1 entered the inner
otilce I was surprised to liud Mr. (.Jra
hiini, our senior, already at his desk,
lie nodded good morning a little curtly.
"I wish you'd look over these papers
in the Hurd ease, Lester," he said,
nnd pushed them toward me.
1 took them and sat down, and Just
then the outer door slammed with a
violence extremely uiimuiI.
I had never hoon Mr. Itoyce. our Jtm
lor, so deeply shaken, so visibly dis
tracted, as lie was when he burst in
upon us u moment later, a newspaper
In his hand. Mr. Graham, startled by
the noise of his entrance, wheeled
:iround from his desk and stared at
him in astonishment.
"Why, upon my word, Johu," he be
gan, "you look all done up. What's
the matter?"
"Matter enough, sir," and Mr. Hoyee
spread out the paper on the desk be
fore him. "You haven't seen the morn
Inn papers, of course. Well, look at
that!" and he Indicated with a trem
bling finger the article which occupied
the first column of the llrst page, the
place of honor.
I saw our senior's face change as
he road the headlines, and he seemed
positively horror stricken as he ran
rapidly through the story which fol
lowed. "Why, this is the most remarkable
thing 1 ever read!" he burst out at last.
"Kemarkable!" cried the other. "Why,
its an outrage, sir! The Idea that a
gentle, cultured girl like Trances Hol
laday would deliberately murder her
own father, strike him down in cold
blood, Is too monstrous, too absolute
ly preposterous, too too" And he
stopped, fairly choked by his emotion.
The words brought me upright in my
chair. Frances Holladay accused of
Well, no wonder our junior was up
set! Hut Mr. Graham was reading through
the article again more carefully, and,
while lie nodded sympathetically to
.show that he fully assented to the
other's words, a straight, deep line of
perplexity, which I hud come to recog
nize, formed between his eyebrows.
Tiainly," he said at last, "the whole
case hinges on the evidence of tills man
Jtogers, Holladay's conlldentlal clerk,
and from what 1 know of lingers I
should say that he'd be the last man
In the world to make a willful mis
statement. He says that Miss Holla
day entered her father's otilce late yes
terday afternoon, stayed there ten
minutes and then came out hurrlelly.
A few minutes later Rogers went luto
the olllce and found his employer dead.
That's the whole ease, but It'll ho n
hard one to break."
"Well, It must he broken!" retorted
the other, pulling himself together
wlili n siiiireme effort. "Of course I'll
lake the case."
Of course!"
"Miss Holladay probably sent for mo
last night, but I was out at Habylon,
you know, looking up that wltiioss in
the Hurd affair. He'll be nil right,
and his evidence will give us the case.
Our answer In the Hrown Injunction
can wait till tomorrow. That's all, I
think."
The chief nodded.
"Yes, I see the inquest is to begin at
10 o'clock. You haven't much time."
"No, I'd like to have a good man with
me," and he glanced In my direction,
"fan you spare me Lester V"
My heart gave a jump. It was Just
the (inestlou I was hoping he would i
ask.
"Why, yes, of course," answered the
chief readily. 'In a case like this,
certainly. Let me hear from you In
the course of the day." '
Mr. Itoyce nodded as he started for
tho door.
"I will. We'll find some flaw iu that
fellow's story, depend upon It. Como
ou, Lester."
I Bnatched up pen and paper and fol
lowed hhu to the elevator. In a mo
ment we were In tho street. There
...My ji.iliii In nlnnft twittr 1 lufrfWrtlntt
their loadB and starting back uptown
again. We hailed one, and In another
moment were rattling along toward
our destination with such speed as the .
Btornj permitted. Thera were many I
A Mystery
Of Two
Continents
BUTTON E.
STEVENSON
Copyright, 1903, by
Henry If oil and
Company
questions surging through my brain to
which 1 should have welcomed an an
swer. The storm had cut off my pa
per that morning, and I regretted now
that 1 had not made a more determined
effort to get another. A glance at my
coniiinloii showed me the folly of at
tempting to secure any Information
from him, so I contented myself w'th
reviewing what I already knew of the
history of the principals.
1 knew Hiram W. Holladay, the mur
dered man, quite well, not only as ev
ery New Yorker knew that multimil
lionaire as one of the most successful '
operators In Wall street, but personal
ly as well, since he had been a client
of Graham & Hoyee for twenty years
and more, lie was at that time well
on toward seventy years of age, 1
should say, though he carried his years
remarkably well. Ills wife had been
long dead, and he had only one child,
his daughter Frances, who must have
been about twenty-live. Hie had been
born abroad and bad spent the llrst
years of her life there with her moth
er, who had lingered on the Hivlern
and among the hills of Italy and .Swit
zerland In the hope ol regaining n
health which had been falling, so I
understood, ever since her daughter';!
birth. She had come home at last,
bringing the black eyed child with her,
and within the year was dead.
Holladay's affections from that mo
ment see.'ncd to grow and center about
his daughter, who developed Into n
tall and beautiful girl too beautiful,
as was soon apparent, for our Junior
partner's peace of mind. He had met
her llrst in a business way, and after
ward socially, and all of us who had
eyes could see how he was eating his
heart out at the knowledge that she
was far beyond his reach, for It was
evident that her father deemed her
worthy of a brilliant marriage as In
deed she was. I sometimes thought
that she held herself at a like value,
for though there was about her a con
stant crowd of suitors none of them
seemingly could win an atom of en
couragement. She was waiting, I told
myself, walling; and I had even pic
tured to myself the grim irony of a
situation In which our Junior might
be called upon to arrange her marriage
settlements.
The cab stopped with a Jolt, and I
looked up to see that we had reached
the Criminal Courts building. Mr.
Hoyee sprang out, paid the driver and
ran up the steps to the door, I after
him. He turned down the corridor to
tho right and entered the room at the
end of it, which I recognized as the
olllce of Coroner Goldberg. A consid
erable crowd had already collected
there.
"Has the coroner arrived yet?" my
companion asked one of the clerks.,
"Yes, sir; he's In his private olllce."
"Will you take him this card and
say that I'd like to see him at once, If
possible?"
The clerk hurried away
card. lie was back again
meiit.
"This way, sir," he called.
"We followed him across
with
In a
tho
mo
tile room
and through a door at the farther side.
"Ah. Mr. Hoyee, glad to see you."
cried the coroner as we catered. "We
tried to find you last night, but learned
that you were out of town, and I was
Just calling up your olllce again."
"Miss Holladay asked for me, then?"
"Yes, at once. When we found avo
couldn't, get you, we suggested your
senior, but she said she'd wait till you
returned."
I could see our junior's face crimson
wllh pleasure.
"You didn't think It necessary to con
line her, 1 trust?" ho asked.
"Oh, no. Khe wasn't disturbed. She
spent tho night at home under sur
veillance." "That was right. Of course It's sim
ply absurd to suspect her."
Goldberg looked at him curiously.
"I don't know, Mr. Hoyee," he suld
slowly. "If Uie evidence turns out as
I think It will, I Khali have to hold her
the district attorney expects it."
Mr. Hoyce's hands were clutching a
chair back, ami they trembled a llttla
at the coroner's words.
"He'll be present at the examina
tion, then?" he asked,
"Yes; we're waiting for him. You
see, It's rather an extraordinary case."
"Is It ?"
"Wo think so, anyway!" Bald the cor
oner, Just a trifle Impatiently.
I could boo tho retort which sprang
to our Junior's lips, hut he choked It
back. There was no use offending
i ,',',
"I should like to see Miss Holladay
before the examination beglna," ho
aid. "Is she present? '
."She's in ttejast woi H&. You,
shall see her. certainly, at once. .Ju
lius, take Mr. Hoyee to Miss Holladay,"
he added to the clerk.
I can see her yet, rising from her
chair with face alight, as we entered,
and 1 saw Instantly how 1 had mis
judged her. She came a step toward
us, holding out her hands Impulsively;
then, with an effort, controlled herself
and clasped them before her.
"Oh, but I'm glad to see you!" she
cried In a voice so low I could scarcely
hear It. "I've wanted you so much!" I
"It was my great misfortune that 1
could come no sooner," said my chief,
his voice trembling a little despite him
self. "I 1 scarcely expected to see you
here with no one"
"Oh," she Interrupted, "there was no
one I eared to have. My friends have
been very kind -have offered to do anything-but
1 felt that 1 wanted to he
Just alone and think. 1 should have
liked to have my maid, but"
"She's one of the witnesses, I sup
pose," explained Mr. Hoyee. "Well,
now that I'm here, I shall stay until
I've proved how utterly ridiculous this
charge against you Is."
She sank back into her chair and
looked up at him with dark, appealing
eyes.
"You think you can?" she asked.
"Can! Certainly I can! Why, It's too
preposterous to stand for a moment!
We've only to prove an alibi-to show
OT fILIII
'Tin glad to sec you!" she (Tied.
that you were" somewhere else, you
know, at the time the crime was com
mittedand the whole business falls
to pieces In an Instant. You can do
that easily, can't you?"
The color had gone from Iier cheeks
again, and Hie burled her face hi her
hands.
"I don't know," she murmured Indis
tinctly. "I must think. Oh, don't lot it
come to thnt!"
I was puzzled, confounded. With her
good name, her life perhaps, In the bal
ance, she wanted time to think! I
could see that my chief was astonished
too.
"I'll try to keep It from coming to
that, since you wish It," he said slow
ly. "I'll not be able to call you, then, to
testify in your own behalf and that
always hurls but I hope the case will
break down at once. I believe it will.
At any rate, don't worry. 1 want you
to rely on me."
She looked up at him again, smiling.
"I shall," she murmured softly. "I'm
sure I could desire no better cham
pion!" Well, plainly, If he won tills case he
would win something else besides. I
think even the policeman In the corner
saw It, for he turned away with a dis
cretion rare In policemen and pretend
ed to starc.out of the window.
.'IWkWJW what my chief would
Imre.ijV s Hiw were trembling su
ho could nqt , speak for the moment,
and just, then there came a tap at the
door, niul the coroner's clerk looked In.
"We're ready to begin, sir," he said.
"Very well." cried Mr. Hoyee. "I'll
come at once. Goodby for tho mo
ment, Miss Holladay. I repeat, you
may rely on me," and he hastened from
the room us confidently as though she
had girded him for the battle. In
stead, I told myself, she had bound
him hand and foot before easting him
down into tho arena.
CIIAPTKH II.
outer room was crowded
T
TIE
fr
iiii end to end ami tue at-
m
m
tsphero reeked with unpleas-
C dampness. Only behind the
little rail ug before the coroner's desk
was therr breathing spnee, and wo sank
into our eats at the table there with
n sigh of relief.
One no or realizes how many uowb
papers tl ero are In New York until
ono atten
Is an Important criminal case
that br :igs their people out in droves
and awn ms. The reporters took up
most of he space in this small room.
Paper at i pencils were everywliero In
evidence, and in ono corner there was
a man iith a camera stationed, do-1
termlnod
suppose, to get a lo0;
graph of our client Bhould she be called
to tho sland, since none could bo ob
talned I any other way.
I saw) Singleton, the district attor
nejrcofao.in.and.Blt.down pear thej
coroner, uud then the Jury Hied In from
their room and took their seats. I
examined them, man by man, with
some Utile anxiety, but they all seemed
Intelligent and fairly well to do. Mr.
Hoyee was looking over their names,
anil he cheeked them off carefully as
the clerk called the roll. Then he hand
ed the list up to the coroner with a
little nod.
"(Jo ahead." lie said. "They're nil
right I guess they look all right."
"It's a good Jury," replied the cor
oner as lie took tho paper. "Hotter
than usual. Are you ready, Mr. Sin
gleton?" "Yes," said tho district attorney.
"Oh, wait a minute," he added, and he
got up and came down to our table.
"You're going to put Miss Holladay
on the stand, I suppose"
"And expose her to all this?" And
our Junior looked around the room,
"Not If 1 can help It!"
"I don't see how you can help ll. An
alibi's the only thing that ean save lici
from being bound over."
"We'll cross that bridge when we
come to It," retorted Mr. Hoyee. "I
think the case against her will soon die
of Inanition."
"Oh, wry well." And Singleton
abruptly went back to his desk, biting
his mustache thoughtfully, lie had
made something of a reputation, since
his election a year bcl'o-c, as a solver
of abstruse criminal problems and
had seemed a conviction In two or
three capital cases which laid throat
ened for a time to bailie Ihe police, lie
evidently scented something of the
same kind here or he would have In
trmled the case to one of his as
sistants. It illicit I c add mI that, whPe
his successi s had made him lininensel,
poi'iilnr Willi llie multitude, there had
horn about one or two of them a
of unprofessional conduct, which
made his brethren of the bar
bint ;
hail ;
look
rather askance at him.
He nodded to the coroner after a
moment, the room was called to order
and the llrst witness summoned.
It was Hogers, the confidential clerk.
I knew Hogers, of course; had talked
with him often hi a business way and
had the highest respect for him. lie
had been with Mr. Holladay much lon
ger than 1 had been with Graham &
Hoyee and had, as Mr. Graham had
pointed out, an unimpeachable reputa
tion. There were the usual preliminaries
name, age, residence, and so on, Coro
ner Goldberg asking the questions. He
was a really good cross examiner ami
soon came to the core of the matter.
"What Is the position of your desk
in Mr. Holladay's olllce?" ho asked.
"There is an outer olllce for the
clerks; opening from that a smaller
room, where my desk is placed. Open
ing from my room was Mr. Holladay's
private olllce."
"Had Mr. Holladay's olllce any other
door?"
"No, sir."
"Could entrance lie had by the win
dows?" "The windows open on the street
side of the building. We occupy u
part of the eighth Moor."
"The lire escapes"
"Are at the back of (he building
there are none on (he street side
nothing but a sheer wall."
"So that any one entering or leaving
Ihe private olllce must necessarily pass
by your desk?"
"Necessarily; yes, sir."
"Could any one pass without your
seeing him?"
"No. sir; that would be quite Impos
sible." The coroner leaned back in bis chair.
There was one point settled.
"Now. Mr. Hogers," he said, "will
you kindly tell us. In your own way
and with us much detail as possible,
exactly what happened at your olllcu
shortly before fi o'clock yesterday aft
ernoon?" j
I could see that Hogers was deeply
moved. Ills face was very white, he
moistened his lips nervously from time
to time, and his hands grasped con
vulsively the arms of his chair. Plain
ly the task before lilni was far from
an agreeable one.
"Well, sir," he began, "we had a
very busy day yesterday and were at
1 the olllce considerably later than usual,
but by 5 o'clock avo had closed up
1 work for the day, and all the other
clerks, Avlth the exception of the olllce
boy, had gone home. I had made some
notes from Mr. Hollnday's dictation
and had returned to ni.v desk to ar
range (hem Avhen the outer door open
ed, and Mr. Holladay's daughter eaino
In. She asked me whether her father
was engaged, and upon my saying no
opened the Inner door and entered ills
olllce. She remained, I should think,
about ten minutes, then she came out
again, Avalked rapidly past without
looking at me and, I suppose, left tho
building. I finished arranging my
notes and then entered Mr. Holladay's
olllce to ask If he had any further In-
struciions ror me, nim i louuu.uiip
lying forward on ills desk Avlth a knife
sticking In his neck and the blood
upurtlug out. I summoned nld, but ho
died Avlthout regaining consciousness.
I Bhould say he avbs practically dead
when I found him."
I felt rather than heard the llttla
I HUr whlch ran throuBh tho room. There
AVtts an Indefinable horror in tho Btory
and in the conclusion to which it in
evitably led.
Rogers, stopped and
Now, let us go back a moment," Bald
mopped his forehead feverishly. "I
want the Jury to understand your story
thoroughly. Mr. Holladuy hnd been
dictating to you?"
"Yes."
"And was quite avoII?"
"Yes; as well as usual. ITo'd been
suffering with Indigestion for some
time past."
"Still he was able to attend to busi
ness?" "Oh, yes, sir. Tliero was nothing at
all serious In his Illness."
"You then left his olllce and returned
to your own. How long had you been
there before the outer door opened?"
"No( over live minutes."
"And who was It entered?"
"Miss Frances Holladay, the daugh
ter of my employer."
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