"Dr. Cronin is not dead; at least he wasn't assassinated at the end of his buggy ride with a strange man last Saturday night. Neither is he likely to be found in this city or State, and perhaps not in the United States. And there is much reason to suspect that he went at the beck and call of the English Government--in short, that he was a British spy, and has gone to join Le Caron, his friend and companion and near neighbor both here and in St. Louis. A startling communication in cipher has been received from the other side, and the information comes from a source whose accuracy cannot be doubted. It is to the effect that agents of the English Government have been arranging to place another American informer on the stand in the Parnell inquiry. It seems that the informer has offered to testify for a stated sum, which is said to be $100,000, and that the Government is only awaiting the report of its experts, who are inspecting his documentary proof before accepting his proposition. That is the way the matter stands now. I have been asked to find out who this new informer is. I have tried my best to do so, but I can't say I have been entirely successful. Dr. Cronin's mysterious disappearance has left a deep suspicion on my mind. I never liked that fellow, anyway, for I always considered him a contemptible rascal. I don't believe, either, that he has been assassinated, because I don't know of any good reason for killing him. I wouldn't be surprised if he turned up in London shortly. It wouldn't be at all strange. He was Le Caron's friend, as nearly as I can ascertain from Chicagoans, who knew them both, and what would be more natural than for him to cross the Atlantic to pay the druggist a friendly visit?" On the heels of this came an alleged dispatch from London: "Le Caron, the man who acted as a spy for the British Government on the movements of the Irish leaders in America, and who testified for the _Times_ before the Parnell Commission, declares that he and Dr. Cronin were the closest friends. Le Caron believes that Dr. Cronin has been killed, and that the friendship of the murdered man may account for his removal." Naturally enough, these diabolical insinuations had their full effect on the public mind. The search for the body was practically abandoned by the police, and the theory that the physician had left the town of his own free will was generally accepted by the public. Even some of those who had been closely associated with him were inclined to the same view, except that they ascribed his possible trip to London to different purposes to those advanced by his enemies. "I believe Dr. Cronin is in New York on his way to London for the purpose of testifying before the Parnell Commission," said one of his friends. "Why do you think so?" he was asked.