"If I can ever be of service"--she murmured. But Beekman interrupted her. "Pardon me, it is I who wish to be of some service to you. But will you tell me," he asked, another thought coming into his mind, "how it was that you didn't know Ilingsworth, and that he didn't know you? How do you account for it, Miss Braine?" "I think this day has taught us that there are many unaccountable things in life, hasn't it, Governor?" And the Governor, when once more seated alone at his desk, was forced to acknowledge to himself that it had. Governor Beekman was still at his desk going over some papers when Phillips, some time later, came in and handed him a telegram, saying: "It's in cipher, sir." "Cipher!" said the other. "Why cipher? I have no code with anybody. Can you read it?" "It says 'Coal gone to $6.50 retail.'" And passing it over, added: "It's signed, M. X. Y. Z." "And you say that's a cipher?" asked the Governor. "Yes. The X. Y. Z. means the X. Y. Z. Code, apparently," explained Phillips, glibly. "I have the A. B. C. and the X. Y. Z. in my desk. I translated it while you were busy. It means this: 'Court has affirmed Wilkinson conviction. Morehead.'" Governor Beekman started with genuine anxiety. "The deuce you say! I'm sorry, very sorry, to hear that," he said; but Phillips only smiled--a smile that the Governor did not see. "I can't understand why they affirm that conviction, I can't--I can't ..." he kept saying to himself. Then aloud to his secretary: "Get me a copy of that opinion, will you, Phillips? I want to see it, word for word." And it was with considerable satisfaction that the private secretary observed, as he left the room, that the Governor was nervously pacing to and fro. XVIII In Colonel Morehead's office at 120 Broadway, Peter V. Wilkinson sat at the window reading a typewritten document of considerable length. He was white and rigid; while Leslie, standing beside him, rested her arm upon his shoulder. As he read he stirred uneasily, even his daughter's hand felt heavy upon him, and he shrugged it off. "By all the gods!" he groaned from time to time; "those chaps have nerve to say such things about me!" "They seem to have the right," said the Colonel, suppressing a chuckle, "and I suppose we can't complain." When Peter V. had finished reading the opinion, he wiped his face with his kerchief--the perspiration had started from every pore. "That's the last crack, I suppose, Morehead," he ventured. Morehead did not immediately answer, but turned to Leslie and said: "There's a new Inness in the next room that I picked up at a bargain. Would you like----" And without waiting for her answer the Colonel led the way to an adjoining room, where he pointed out briefly to her the artistic features of his new acquisition, and leaving her to admire it, he came back, closing the door behind him.