“Then the death was tragic?”
“You shall judge for yourself. Mr. Lonsdale, as he wrote to me in his letter, was summoned to the sanitarium by a telegram which informed him that my father was dead.
“He was not surprised at the bare news, for by that time we had surrendered all hopes of a final recovery; but the manner of the death was a shock.
“The weather was cool, and a grate fire burned in my father’s room that night. In the temporary absence of the attendants from the apartment, it was supposed the patient recovered the use of his legs, got up and went to the fire.
“While there it was thought he fell in a fatal faint.
“When the attendant came back, he found the patient dead at the grate, with his head on the fender, and his face nearly burned away.
“Mr. Templin wore a long, white beard, and very white hair. All of the beard and hair had been consumed.
“Dr. Greene wanted to hold an autopsy, but Mr. Lonsdale would not consent. In fact, he had the remains consigned to a vault, because he feared the intense desire of the medical profession of California to get a look at the brain of the man who furnished this remarkable case was so great and so general that the body would not be safe in a grave.”
CHAPTER XX.
AN HEIRESS IN TROUBLE.
“And yet you have some doubts, Miss Templin, whether it really is your father’s body which lies in that vault back there?” commented Nick Carter, as the young lady indicated that her story was told.