“The Duke of Argyle?” repeated Mosely, lifted momentarily from his daze of grief by sound of so magic and familiar a name. “The one who invented the scratching posts that made folks say ‘God bless the Duke of Argyle’? I read about him in a book. Was he the same one?” “No,” said Willis Chase, “this was the one who put up sandpaper pillars on the border for Highlanders to rub the burrs off their dialect. He was the laird of Hootmon Castle, syne aboon the sonsie Lochaber.” Once more Mosely favored the flippant youth with a scowl of utter disgust. Then, turning to the rest, he said: “An idea has just hit me. I warn you I’m going to mention it to the police as soon as they get here. We came down to this room before dinner, and we had to wait around here for pretty near half an hour before we were called in to eat. Mr. Vail, you sneaked out of the room after we were here. And you were gone ten minutes or more. Long enough to--” “To rob all my guests?” supplemented Vail. “Quite so. I’m sorry to spoil such a pleasant theory. But I was in the dining room trying to quell a servile insurrection--trying to stave off a domestic strike--so that you might get a decently appointed dinner instead of having to forage in the ice box after the servants quit.” “That’s your version, hey?” grated Mosely. “Most likely you can bribe one or two of your servants to back it up, too.” “I’m sorry, Mr. Mosely,” put in Miss Gregg, as Vail choked back a retort. “I’m as sorry as Mr. Vail to spoil your perfectly beautiful theory. But our sinning host happens to be telling the truth. In fact, it is a habit of his. I know he’s telling the truth because I went out there to reënforce him just as he was losing the battle against butler and housekeeper combined, with the cook as auxiliary reserve. Of course, _I_ may be bribed, too, in my testimony, for all you know. So if you care to--” “I never doubt a lady’s word, ma’am,” said Mosely with ponderous gallantry. “Why not?” insisted Miss Gregg. “It’s far safer than doubting Thaxton Vail’s. To save my life, I couldn’t hit as clean a blow or as hard a blow as the one that gave your chin that lovely mauve lump on it. Thax, you’re something of a fool, but you’re something more of a man. I never saw any one knocked down before. Except on the stage. I ought to have been sickened by the brutal sight. But I confess it thrilled me. I got the same reaction from it that I always get when the full _Messiah_ Chorus bursts into the ‘Hallelujah.’ It--” “Auntie!” cried Doris, scandalized. “So did _you_, for that matter!” accused the old lady. “Your eyes were like a pair of overgrown stars. They--” “Suppose,” broke in Doris, reddening painfully, “suppose the rest of us see if the thief visited us. Then we can have a full report to make when the chief comes. Let’s see--Auntie and I--the Moselys--Clive-oh, yes--Willis Chase! Is--” “I saw him start upstairs a second ago,” said Vail. “He--”