upon the scene saw him, and although there is no doubt that a revolver
was fired, and that the gentleman's description of the assailant's
position was so exact that the bullet was found embedded in a door on the
opposite side of the street, the denouement casts some doubt on the
story. Quite a small crowd had collected by the time the police arrived,
and then the old gentleman was not to be found. In the excitement he had
slipped away without any one seeing him go. We understand that the police
theory is that there was no attempt at murder, but that the old
gentleman, having fired a revolver for a lark, or perhaps for a wager,
told a tale to save himself from the consequences of his folly, and then,
seizing his opportunity, quietly slipped away. Those who were first upon
the spot say his dazed condition may have been the result of too much to
drink. We cannot say the explanation is altogether satisfactory to us."

"Well?" said Quarles when he saw I had finished.

"I agree with the writer of the paragraph," I answered. "The explanation
is far from satisfactory. Such a story and such a smart disappearance do
not suggest drunkenness."

"Perhaps not, although it is wonderful how Providence seems to watch over
the drunken man. However, the elderly gentleman was not drunk and his
story was strictly true. I was the elderly gentleman."

"You! And your assailant?"

Quarles got up and walked slowly to the window and back again.

"It was a very near thing, Wigan, and it has got on my nerves a bit. You
know that I am held chiefly responsible for the solution of these robbery