The lawyer looked in from one to the other. What he had heard was scarcely . He did not believe the evidence of his own ears.  
"What do you mean?" he .
 
"Just what I say," replied Tod calmly. "The fight is as good as won! Jimmy acknowledges that he and Cooley to divide Paula Marsh's estate, and put her here to gain their ends."
 
Mr. Ricaby said nothing for a moment. The suddenness of this most unexpected revelation had almost paralyzed his . Could it be possible that they had run the cunning fox to earth, that they had the big criminal lawyer in their power? Was the Bascom Cooley trapped at last? It seemed too good to believe. If it were true, then Paula was as good as free. All their worry and anxiety was at an end. There was nothing to prevent her walking out of the at once. All that remained to be done was the punishment of the scoundrels who by audacious fraud and misrepresentation had put her there. Silently the lawyer promised himself that the penalty should be the limit.
 
"Is it possible?" he ejaculated.
 
"Yes," said Tod . "Jimmy has just left here. He has gone upstairs to see Cooley and call the whole thing off."
 
Mrs. Marsh, giving way to her emotions, sank down on a convenient seat and buried her face in her daintily perfumed handkerchief.
 
"Oh, I'm so ashamed!" she moaned.
 
Tod put his arm tenderly around her. He was fond of his mother in spite of all that had occurred to him from home.
 
"No, dear," he said gently, "you haven't done anything to be ashamed of. It isn't your fault. Mr. Ricaby knows that. Don't you, Ricaby?"
 
The lawyer looked at the weeping woman in silence. Then slowly and gravely he said:
 
"I can't believe it possible that you are associated with your husband in the commission of this crime—no— I am ready to you of that."
 
"What do you intend to do first?" demanded Tod anxiously.
 
"The lawyer remained thoughtful for a moment. Then he said:
 
"I want you both to remain here until I have your sworn as to the facts of the case. Then I shall proceed to have Mr. James Marsh and Mr. Bascom Cooley arrested for criminal !"
 
"It seems rather hard to make my mother testify against her own husband," objected the younger man.
 
"It's disgraceful," Mrs. Marsh, "but I'll do whatever must be done."
 
"Well—we won't discuss that question now," replied Mr. Ricaby hastily, "the important thing is to get Miss Marsh out of this place as soon as possible."
 
Suddenly Tod gave a wild and towards the stairs. On the top landing he had spied Paula with Dr. McMutrie by her side.
 
"Here she is!" he cried.
 
Slowly the young girl the staircase, carefully assisted round the turns by the Examiner. She seemed weak and looked very pale. But her face brightened as soon as she caught sight of friends.
 
"Good news, Miss Paula!" exclaimed Tod breathlessly. "You will scarcely believe it."
 
Mrs. Marsh, who had hastily dried her eyes, rose and went towards her niece with arms outstretched. "Paula!" she cried. "How we have wronged you!"
 
"I thought she would be more comfortable with you," smiled Dr. McMutrie. "I'm afraid the presence of we men of science rather disconcerts her."
 
Paula, who was now leaning on the arm of the Tod, smiled gratefully:
 
"You are very kind, doctor—I—thank you. It does oppress me when I see so many people who are not—not disposed. I'm glad to be here—with my friends."
 
While Tod talked in an eager undertone with Paula, Dr. McMutrie took Mr. Ricaby and Mrs. Marsh aside.
 
"The girl's all right," he said. "She's suffering from intense nervousness, that's all! While we were questioning her Mr. Marsh came into the room and took Mr. Cooley away—so I thought I'd bring her down here until she's wanted. By the way, Mrs. Marsh, did you select Dr. Zacharie to attend your niece?"
 
"No—I certainly did not!" she replied .
 
The examiner hesitated and coughed as if to express his frank opinion of Mr. Cooley's physician.
 
"He is certainly a most man— I—don't agree with him at all. He's too drastic, and I don't think he understands. Do you know who did engage him?"
 
"Yes—I think——"
 
She stopped suddenly, seeing that Mr. Ricaby was signalling her to remain silent.
 
"Well, I must get back," said Dr. McMutrie, rising. "You had better stay here. I don't approve of your niece remaining at Tocquencke, Mrs. Marsh, and I am going to say so. She ought never to have come——"
 
With a bow to Mrs. Marsh and the others, he turned and left the office.
 
"Did you tell him?" demanded Tod eagerly, when he was out of earshot.
 
"No," replied the lawyer quickly, "we'll tell no one. I don't want the scoundrel to escape."
 
"I've told Miss Paula everything," said Tod . Jokingly, he added: "Would you believe it? She's sorry to leave Sea Rest!"
 
Paula laughed, a frank, girlish of merriment unclouded by care or anxiety. It was the first laugh since she had come to the asylum, and she was surprised how good it felt. Her eyes sparkled with new joy and happiness. Thank God! Her troubles were at an end. Freedom was now only a question of minutes. The terrible nightmare was over, a thing of the past. No more would she be terrified by the sight of padded cells or haunted by Dr. Zacharie's cruel, smile. And as she clung more tightly to Tod's arm she thought with in her heart how true and a friend he had been through all these dark days. But for him, her uncle and Mr. Cooley might have succeeded in their design, they might have kept her confined in the asylum for years. The outside world would never have known or cared. She might have died there and no one been the wiser. She felt sorry for Mrs. Marsh, for she believed in the of the woman's . Besides, she was ready to forgive her anything. Was she not the mother of the one being she loved better than anyone in the world?
 
Turning to Mrs. Marsh, she said with a sympathetic smile:
 
"It's fortunate for me—but is hard for you, isn't it?"
 
"Oh, never mind me," murmured Mrs. Marsh, her face. "You did not deserve to suffer. I do."
 
"Dr. McMutrie has been very kind," went on Paula; "he seemed to realize that Dr. Zacharie was against me. That fact alone his sympathy."
 
"Yes, my dear," said Mrs. Marsh, who had somewhat recovered from her , "Dr. McMutrie is an exceptionally nice man. One doesn't often meet such men nowadays." With a glance at Tod, she added: "He's almost as nice as my son, don't you think so, Paula?"
 
Understanding her meaning, the girl blushed, and the alert Tod, quick to seize the psychological moment, thought this as good a time as any to put to words what his eyes had already told her enough:
 
"Paula," he whispered, "I——"
 
"!" said Mr. Ricaby warningly. "Here's Mr. Cooley!"
 
Bascom Cooley, head and as ever, came slowly down the stairs and glared at each individual member of the group gathered in the office waiting for him. He knew that he was checkmated, that his of terror was ended, that the Marsh millions had slipped out of his grasp, but still he would not acknowledge defeat. They thought they had trapped him, did they? Well, he would show them that the old fox was too cunning for them. He stood in silence, waiting for someone to speak. Finally, Mr. Ricaby stepped forward. His face was pale, but his voice firm as he said:
 
"Bascom Cooley, I suppose Mr. Marsh has already
 told you that we know. There is no use matters. You and James Marsh will have to answer to the proper authorities for as damnable and wicked a criminal conspiracy as was ever plotted in the history of the State. In your greed for gold you have done a great wrong. You have committed subornation of , you have and distorted evidence, all for the purpose of securing dishonestly the control of funds belonging to another. Believing that your political influence would hold you immune, you have every law of order and . You have robbed both the public and the individual. You have become rich on the su............