Produced by Sam W., Suzanne Shell, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE HOLLADAY CASE _A TALE_ By BURTON E. STEVENSON AUTHOR OF "AT ODDS WITH THE REGENT," "A SOLDIER OF VIRGINIA," ETC. NEW YORK HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 1903 COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY _Published November, 1903_ THE MERSHON COMPANY PRESS, RAHWAY, N. J. [Illustration: MR. ROYCE DELIVERS THE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS.] CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. A BOLT FROM THE BLUE, 1 II. IN THE GRIP OF CIRCUMSTANCE, 15 III. THE COIL TIGHTENS, 37 IV. I HAVE AN INSPIRATION, 56 V. I DINE WITH A FASCINATING STRANGER, 70 VI. GODFREY'S PANEGYRIC, 90 VII. MISS HOLLADAY BECOMES CAPRICIOUS, 101 VIII. THE MYSTERIOUS MAID, 114 IX. I MEET MONSIEUR MARTIGNY, 131 X. AN ASTONISHING DISAPPEARANCE, 146 XI. I UNMASK MY ENEMY, 165 XII. AT THE CAFE JOURDAIN, 183 XIII. EN VOYAGE, 197 XIV. I PROVE A BAD SENTINEL, 213 XV. TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE, 229 XVI. I BEARD THE LION, 247 XVII. ETRETAT, 270 XVIII. THE VEIL IS LIFTED, 280 XIX. THE END OF THE STORY, 293 THE HOLLADAY CASE CHAPTER I A Bolt from the Blue The atmosphere of the office that morning was a shade less genial than usual. We had all of us fought our way downtown through such a storm of wind, snow, slush, and sleet as is to be found nowhere save in mid-March New York, and our tempers had suffered accordingly. I had found a cab unobtainable, and there was, of course, the inevitable jam on the Elevated, with the trains many minutes behind the schedule. I was some half-hour late, in consequence, and when I entered the inner office, I was surprised to find Mr. Graham, our senior, already at his desk. He nodded good-morning a little curtly. "I wish you'd look over these papers in the Hurd case, Lester," he said, and pushed them toward me. I took them and sat down; and just then the outer door slammed with a violence extremely unusual. I had never seen Mr. Royce, our junior, so deeply shaken, so visibly distracted, as he was when he burst in upon us a moment later, a newspaper in his hand. Mr. Graham, startled by the noise of his entrance, wheeled around from his desk and stared at him in astonishment. "Why, upon my word, John," he began, "you look all done up. What's the matter?"