Myles Desmond was not a particularly good young man, but good enough as young men of the present generation go. He was a healthy, cheery, enough-for-the-day-is-the-evil-thereof sort of fellow, and, considered himself decidedly hardly treated at being arrested on such a serious charge as that of the murder of Lena Sarschine.

According to the cynical creed prevailing now-a-days all his friends should have turned their backs on him now he was in trouble, but there is a wonderful lot of undiscovered good even in friends, and none of them did. Instead of calling him names and laughing at his misfortune Desmond's friends took up his cause warmly, and both in clubs and drawing-rooms he was heartily commiserated. Many people, both in his own set and in the literary circle of which he had become a member, had taken a liking to the bright, kindly young man, and emphatically declared that the whole thing was a terrible mistake.

"Myles Desmond a murderer!" they said, "why as soon say the Archbishop of Canterbury is an Atheist." So as certain grasses only give out perfume when crushed, Myles' misfortune brought all his friends around to help him if need be.

And he sadly needed help, poor fellow, for his position was a very critical one, the evidence against him being as follows:

1. He had last seen Lena Sarschine alive on the night of the murder.

2. He had been met in St. James's Street by Ellersby not far from the scene of the crime.

3. He had in his possession the dagger with which the crime was, to all appearances, committed.

Myles answered these accusations as follows:

1. He had not seen Lena Sarschine on that night, but another lady whose name he refused to divulge.

2. His presence in St. James's Street on the night in question was purely accidental.

3. And the dagger found in the vase was one he had taken from Lena Sarschine on the afternoon of the day she had called to see Calliston about the elopement.

"I'll tell you all about that dagger," explained Myles to Norwood, his solicitor. "I was at Calliston's rooms on the Monday afternoon looking over his papers, when Lena Sarschine came in like a mad woman to see Calliston. I tried to quiet her, but she refused to be pacified, and pulling out the dagger said she would kill Calliston first and Lady Balscombe afterwards. I tried to take it from her and she flung it away--neither of us knew it was poisoned, or I don't think we would have been so reckless over it. In falling, the dagger rested slantwise from the floor to the fender, and in springing to get it I put my foot on it and broke the handle off. In case she should get it again, I put the pieces in my pocket and took them home--I left them on a side table, so if they were found in the ornaments someone must have placed them there--and Lena Sarschine went away on that day, and since then I have seen nothing of her."

"Then who was the lady you saw on that night?" asked his solicitor.

"I cannot tell you," replied the young man doggedly. "I gave my word to the lady I would not say she had been there till I had her permission, and till I get it I cannot."

"When will you get it?"

"When Calliston returns in his yacht."

"Why, in that case," said Norwood, "you must mean Lady Balscombe?"

"I have not said so."

"No," replied Norwood quickly, "but you say your permission to speak must come from a lady, and the only lady on board the yacht is Lady Balscombe, as she ran away with Lord Calliston. Come, tell me, was it Lady Balscombe you saw on that night?"

"I won't answer you."

All that Norwood could do could not get any other answer from the obstinate young man, so in despair the lawyer left him.

"It's impossible to perform miracles," he muttered to himself as he went back to his office, "and if this young fool won't tell me the whole truth I cannot see what I can do."

On arriving at his office he found a lady waiting to see him, and on glancing carelessly at the card handed to him by his clerk started violently.

"Miss Penfold," he said, "by Jove! she was engaged to Lord Calliston. Now I wonder what she wants?"

The young lady made her appearance, and the door being closed, soon enlightened him on that point.

"You are Mr. Desmond's lawyer?" she asked.

"Yes, I have that honour," replied Norwood, rather puzzled to know what she had come about.

"I--I take a great interest in Mr. Desmond," said the girl, hesitating, "in fact, I'm engaged to him."

"But I thought Lord Calliston----"

"Lord Calliston is nothing to me," she broke in impatiently. "I never did like him, though my guardian wished me to marry him, and I love Myles Desmond, if I did not I would not be here."

"Well, of course I feel sure he is innocent."

"Innocent! I never had any doubt on the subject, but I want to know what chances there are of proving his innocence."

"It will be a difficult matter," said Norwood thoughtfully, "as I can get him to tell me nothing."

"What is it he refuses to tell you?" asked Miss Penfold.

"The name of the lady whom he saw at Lord Calliston's chambers on the night of the murder. I believe myself it was Lady Balscombe."

"Lady Balscombe!" echoed May in astonishment, "why what would take her there?"

"Perhaps she went to meet Lord Calliston. The reason why I think it's she is that Mr. Desmond says he promised the lady he saw that he would not speak without her permission, and then he tells ............