seemed to interest him particularly. Then he turned to Miss Babette
Graumann. "And then what happened?" he asked.

"Then the Police Commissioner came to Grunau and questioned my
nephew. They had found out that Albert was Mr. Siders' only friend
here. And late that evening the Mayor and the Commissioner came
to our house with the revolver they had found in the room in G--,
and they--they--" her voice trembled again, "they arrested my dear
boy and took him away."

"Have you visited him in prison? What does he say about it himself?"

"He seems quite hopeless. He says that he is innocent--oh, I know
he is--but everything is against him. He acknowledges that it was
he who was in Mr. Siders' room the evening before the murder. He
went there because Siders wrote him to come. He says he left early,
and that John acted queerly. He knows they will not believe his
story. This worry and anxiety will kill him. He has a serious heart
trouble; he has suffered from it for years, and it has been growing
steadily worse. I dare not think what this excitement may do for
him." Miss Graumann broke down again and sobbed aloud. Muller laid
his hands soothingly on the little old fingers that gripped the arm
of the chair.

"Did your nephew send you here to ask for help?" he inquired very
gently.

"Oh, no" The old lady looked up at him through her tears. "No, he
would not have done that. I'm afraid that he'll be angry if he
knows that I have come. He seemed so hopeless, so dazed. I just