run as a place of resort for automobilists in search of light
refreshments. The proprietor's name is Yardley. We have nothing
against him; the place is highly respectable. But it harbours a
boarder, a permanent one, I believe, who has occasioned no little
comment. No one has ever seen her face; unless it is the
landlord's wife. She has all her meals served in her room, and
when she goes out she wears the purple dress and purple veil
you've been talking about. Perhaps she's your visitor of to-day.
Hadn't I better find out?"

"Has she a child? Is she a mother?"

"I haven't heard of any child, but Mrs. Yardley has seven."

The judge's hand withdrew from the table and for an instant the
room was so quiet that you could hear some far-off clock ticking
out the minutes. Then Judge Ostrander rose and in a peremptory
tone said:

"To-morrow. After you hear from me again. Make no move to-night.
Let me feel that all your energies are devoted to securing my
privacy."

The sergeant, who had sprung to his feet at the same instant as
the judge, cast a last look about him, curiosity burning in his
heart and a sort of desperate desire to get all he could out of
his present opportunity. For he felt absolutely sure that he would
never be allowed to enter this room again.

But the arrangement of light was such as to hold in shadow all but