"Not he. He was as evil-looking a vagabond as ever I saw."
"It doesn't follow merely on that account, my dear, that he wasn't a policeman."
There was malice in the lady's tones.
"Not at all; but even a policeman of that type would hardly have jumped out of his skin with fright at the sight of that horrible woman. He knew her, and she knew him. There's a mystery somewhere."
"How nice!"
"Nice? You think so? I wish you had interviewed her instead of me. My dear Ella, she--she was--beyond expression."
Ella came and seated herself on a stool at Madge's feet. Leaning her arms on her knees she looked up at her face.
"Poor old chap! It wasn't an agreeable experience."
Madge's answer was as significant as it was curt.
"It wasn't."