"Hello, Leparello--you old scoundrel!" he said, cautiously.

"Forget it!" muttered the bird, cocking his head and lifting first one
slate-coloured claw from his perch, then the other;--"forget it! Help!
Oh, very well. God bless the ladies!"

"_Where_ on earth did you ever before see my parrot?" asked Valerie,
astonished. Ogilvy appeared to be a little out of countenance, too.

"Oh, I really don't remember exactly where I did see him," he tried to
explain; and nobody believed him.

"Sam! Answer me!"

"Well, where did _you_ get him?"

"Jose Querida gave Leparello to me."

Annan and Ogilvy exchanged the briefest glance--a perfectly blank
glance.

"It probably isn't the same bird," said Ogilvy, carelessly. "There are
plenty of parrots that talk--plenty of 'em named Leparello, probably."

"Sam, how _can_ you be so untruthful! Rita, hold him tightly while I
pull his ears!"

It was a form of admonition peculiarly distasteful to Ogilvy, and he
made a vain effort to escape.

"Now, Sam, the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth! Quick,
or I'll tweak!"

"All right, then," he said, maliciously, "Querida's got relatives in
Oporto who send him these kind of parrots occasionally. He names 'em all
Leparello, teaches 'em all the same jargon, and--gives 'em to girls!"

"How funny," said Valerie. She looked at Sam, aware of something else in
his grin, and gave an uncertain little laugh.

He sat down, rubbing his ear-lobes, the malicious grin still lingering
on his countenance. What he had not told her was that Querida's
volcanically irregular affairs of the heart always ended with the gift
of an Oporto parrot. Marianne Valdez owned one. So did Mazie Gray.

His cynical gaze rested on Valerie reflectively. He had heard plenty of
rumours and whispers concerning her; and never believed any of them. He
could not believe now that the gift of this crimson, green and sky-blue
creature signified anything. Yet Querida had known her as long as
anybody except Neville.

"When did he give you this parrot?" he asked, carelessly.

"Oh, one day just before I was going to Atlantic City. He was coming
down, too, to stay a fortnight while I was there, and come back with me;
and he said that He had intended to give the parrot to me after our
return, but that he might as well give it to me before I went."

"I see," said Ogilvy, thoughtfully. A few moments later, as he and Annan
were leaving the house, he said:

"It looks t