"You mean you—" Tyler's pale, defiant lips parted impulsively, but he quickly checked himself.
"I am not afraid to ask it, Jim," the girl this time sought his fingers with her own. "Do you mean you—are not here to try to connect Jim with the—disappearance of my father?"
"No, Miss Sheppard," Trant replied steadily, while the eyes of the two older men were fixed upon him scarcely less intently than the girl's; "and I have asked you to come in a moment, because I feel safe in assuring you that Mr. Tyler can not have been connected with the disappearance of your father in the way they have made you fear. And more than that, it is quite possible that within a few moments I will be able to prove that he is clear of any connection with it whatever—quite possible, Miss Sheppard. That was all I wanted to tell you."
"Who are you?" the girl cried. "And can you make my uncle believe that, too? Do you think I haven't known, uncle, what you thought when Jim went up there after you and—father was lost? I know that what you suspect is impossible; but," she turned to Trant again, "can you make my uncle believe that, too?"
"Your uncle, though he seemed to forget the fact a moment ago, has retained me precisely to clear Mr. Tyler from the circumstantial evidence that seemed so conclusive against him," said Trant, with a warning glance at the amazed Sheppard, "and I strongly hope that I will be able to do so."
"Oh, I did not understand! I will wait upstairs, then," the girl turned from Trant to Sheppard in be-
