must be going."

For a moment madame was lost in calculation, then she decorously
mentioned the amount of their debt.

The Irishman paid with the manner of a prince, and, slipping his arm
again through the boy's, moved to the door; there he looked back.

"Good-day, madame! Many thanks for your charming hospitality! Give my
respects to monsieur, your husband--and kiss the little Leon for me!"

They passed out into the rue Fabert, into the fresh and frosty air, and
involuntarily the boy's arm pressed his.

"How am I to thank you?" he murmured. "It is too much--this kindness to
a stranger."

The Irishman paused and looked at him. "Thanks be damned!--and stranger
be damned!" he said with sudden vehemence. "Aren't we citizens of a free
world? Must I know a man for years before I can call him my friend? And
must every one I've known since childhood be my friend? I tell you I saw
you and I liked you--that was all, and 'twas enough."

Max looked at him with a certain grave simplicity. "Forgive me!" he
said.

Instantly the other's annoyance was dispelled. "Forgive! Nonsense! Tell
me your plans, that's all I want."

"My plans are very easy to explain. I shall rent a studio here in
Paris--and there I shall work."

"As a student?"

"No, I have had my years of study; I am older than you think." He took
no notice of the other's raised eyebrows. "I want to paint a picture--a
great picture. I am seeking the idea."

"Good! Good! Then we'll make that our basis--the search for the idea.
The search for the great idea!"

Max thrilled. 'The search for the idea! How splendid! Where must it
begin? Not in fashionable Paris! Oh, not in fashionable Paris!'

"Fashionable Paris!" The Irishman laughed in loud disdain. "Oh no! For
us it must be the highways and the byways, eh?"

Max freed his arm. "Ah yes! that is what I want--that is what I want.
The highways and the byways. It is necessary that I am very solitary
here in Paris. Quite unknown, you understand?--quite unnoticed."

"The mystery? I understand. And now, tell me, shall it be the highways
or the byways--Montmartre or the Quartier Latin?"

Max smiled decisively. "Montmartre."

"You know Montmartre?"

"No."

The Irishman laughed again. "Good!" he cried. "You're a fine adventurer!
You have the right spirit! Always know your own mind, whatever else
you're ignorant about! But I ought to tell you that Montmartre swarms
with your needy fellow-countrymen."

The boy loo