Hammond realized that the best he could do for Howard was to cut short Elinor’s testimony as quickly as possible. But he was not quicker than she. In a moment she had grasped his intention. She wavered for a second, then both hands went to her face and her head bowed forward as she wept silently for a moment. Then she looked up, and it was with stricken eyes and the bewildering despair of a child who did not understand that she hurled the bomb that she knew would bring both brother and mother into the dust. For a moment there was an awed silence. The furious scribbling of the newspaper men could be heard. One of them half stood up as he beckoned to a messenger boy in back of him. “Here!” he whispered in a rasping voice that cut the stillness. “Shoot this along for the extra. Tell the boss it’s the head!” From where he stood facing the witness chair, John Hammond caught a glance at the letters that sprawled across the one sheet of copy paper. SOCIETY GIRL’S TESTIMONY CONVICTS BROTHER Without another question, John Hammond sat down. The girl had beaten him. For, in that moment of dueling, when the fate of her brother had trembled in the balance, Elinor Benton had looked up with those stricken eyes, those bewildered eyes of a child who did not understand, and her arms had gone out toward her father pleadingly as she wailed; half choked: “Oh, Daddy! Daddy! I can’t say any more! Please, please, don’t let them ask me any more! I—I—don’t want to incriminate Howard! You warned me to be careful, but you see, they are forcing me to speak!” At the harsh command of the coroner, Hugh Benton was compelled to explain that his only warning to Elinor had been that she be absolutely truthful. But Elinor’s victory was complete. The jury returned the verdict of manslaughter. Elinor sat with her handkerchief to her eyes, her father’s arm protectingly about her. Hammond jumped to his feet and rushed over to her. “I don’t blame you for weeping, Elinor. Let me congratulate you upon your cleverness!” “Why Mr. Hammond—I did the best I could! After you and Daddy spoke to me, I thought it over,” Elinor looked up at him, as innocently as a child, “and I decided that you were right. After all, he is my brother—so you heard me tell them. I didn’t want to speak—they forced——” “Please don’t say another word.” Hammond made no effort to conceal his contempt. “You may have succeeded in fooling a great many people, Elinor, but you could never deceive me. You knew exactly what you were doing, and said just the things you wanted to say, yet you made it appear that every word you uttered was dragged from you. The only regret I have is that Howard ever felt it his duty to defend you. You’re a clever woman of the world, my dear, and you could cope with many a woman of forty, despite your youth—and innocence!” “Oh, Daddy!” Elinor sobbed as she hid her face in his coat sleeve. “Do you hear what he is saying to me? I—I don’t deserve it!”