The Third Degree. Charles Klein
Cary Eggleston With illustrations by Hermann Heyer.
HEARTS AND THE CROSS, By Harold Morton Cramer With illustrations by Harold Matthews Brett.
SIX-CYLINDER COURTSHIP, By Edw. Salisbury Field
AT THE FOOT OF THE RAINBOW, By Gene Stratton-Porter Author of "FRECKLES"
JUDITH OF THE CUMBERLANDS, By Alice MacGowan
A MILLION A MINUTE, By Hudson Douglas.
CONJUROR'S HOUSE, By Stewart Edward White Dramatized under the title of "THE CALL OF THE NORTH."
ARIZONA NIGHTS, By Stewart Edward White.
THE MYSTERY, By Stewart Edward White and Samuel Hopkins Adams
LIGHT-FINGERED GENTRY. By David Graham Phillips
THE SECOND GENERATION, By David Graham Phillips
NEW CHRONICLES OF REBECCA, By Kate Douglas Wiggin With illustrations by F. C. Yohn
THE SILVER BUTTERFLY, By Mrs. Wilson Woodrow
BEATRIX OF CLARE, By John Reed Scott
A LITTLE BROTHER OF THE RICH, By Joseph Medill Patterson
MEREDITH NICHOLSON'S FASCINATING ROMANCES
THE HOUSE OF A THOUSAND CANDLES. With a frontispiece in colors by Howard Chandler Christy.
THE PORT OF MISSING MEN. With illustrations by Clarence F. Underwood.
ROSALIND AT REDGATE. Illustrated by Arthur I. Keller.
THE MAIN CHANCE. With illustrations by Harrison Fisher.
ZELDA DAMERON. With portraits of the characters by John Cecil Clay.
BRILLIANT AND SPIRITED NOVELS AGNES AND EGERTON CASTLE
THE PRIDE OF JENNICO. Being a Memoir of Captain Basil Jennico.
THE SECRET ORCHARD. Illustrated by Charles D. Williams.
YOUNG APRIL. With illustrations by A. B. Wenzell.
FLOWER O' THE ORANGE. With frontispiece.
MY MERRY ROCKHURST. Illustrated by Arthur E. Becher.
THE MASTERLY AND REALISTIC NOVELS OF FRANK NORRIS
THE OCTOPUS. A Story of California
McTEAGUE. A Story of San Francisco.
NEW EDITIONS OF THE MOST POPULAR NOVELS Of HALLIE ERMINIE RIVES
SATAN SANDERSON. With halftone illustrations by A. B. Wenzell, and inlay cover in colors.
THE CASTAWAY. With illustrations in colors by Howard Chandler Christy.
HEARTS COURAGEOUS. With illustrations by A. B. Wenzell.
THE RECKONING. By Robert W. Chambers. With illustrations by Henry Hutt.
"I ACCUSE YOU OF PREJUDICING THE COMMUNITY AGAINST THE PRISONER BEFORE HE COMES TO TRIAL."
The Third Degree
CHAPTER I.
"I'm N. G.—that's a cinch! The sooner I chuck it the better!"
Caught in the swirl of the busy city's midday rush, engulfed in Broadway's swift moving flood of hustling humanity, jostled unceremoniously by the careless, indifferent crowds, discouraged from stemming further the tide of pushing, elbowing men and women who hurried up and down the great thoroughfare, Howard Jeffries, tired and hungry and thoroughly disgusted with himself, stood still at the corner of Fulton street, cursing the luck which had brought him to his present plight.
It was the noon hour, the important time of day when nature loudly claims her due, when business affairs, no matter how pressing, must be temporarily interrupted so that the human machine may lay in a fresh store of nervous energy. From under the portals of precipitous office buildings, mammoth hives of human industry, which to right and left soared dizzily from street to sky, swarmed thousands of employees of both sexes—clerks, stenographers, shop-girls, messenger boys, all moved by a common impulse to satisfy without further delay the animal cravings of their physical natures. They strode along with quick, nervous step, each chatting and laughing with his fellow, interested for the nonce in the day's work, making plans for well-earned recreation when five o'clock should come and the up-town stampede for Harlem and home begin.
The young man sullenly watched the scene, envious of the energy and activity of all about him. Each one in these hurrying throngs, he thought bitterly to himself, was a valuable unit in the prosperity