piano. Rented. It was a Stannering."

Fearing that the next question could not but betray him, Evan was
nevertheless obliged to ask it: "Did she leave any forwarding address?"

Miss Sisson's gimlet eyes bored him through before she replied. "Yes,
I asked her. She said she didn't expect anything to come here, but if
it did I could forward it care of her friend Miss Evans, 133 West Ninth
street. Did she owe you any money?"

This was too much. "No, indeed," said Evan, and hurried away.

He walked blindly across the Square, conscious only that Carmen was
probably watching him through the narrow pane beside the door. How
well he knew her expression of mean inquisitiveness. He was marching
into blackness. He was incapable of thinking consecutively. What was
left of his faculties was concentrated to the sole end of concealing
his hurt.

But he still had two clues. He automatically turned down Ninth street
looking for 133 only to find what everybody knows that West Ninth
street ends at Sixth avenue and there are consequently no numbers
beyond 100. He went to the Stannering piano warerooms to ask if they
had the new address of Miss Corinna Playfair on their books. He was
told that Miss Playfair had returned her piano that morning saying that
she was leaving town and would require it no longer.

CHAPTER X

MAUD'S INTEREST

Meanwhile Evan's association with Simeon Deaves was not without its
humorous side. By the exercise of patience and diplomacy he gradually
learned how to manage the old man like a child, though like a child
there were times when he was perfectly unmanageable. Evan in a way
became quite attached to him simply because he was a responsibility.

Avarice was a kind of disease that afflicted him. Apart from that he
was a harmless, even a likable old fellow. He suffered from acute
attacks, so to speak: these were his unmanageable times. He became sly
and furtive, and sought for pretexts to sneak out of the house without
Evan, or to give him the slip in the street. Evan had to watch sharp
to keep him out of trouble. He had little doubt but that they were
generally followed, but by more experienced trackers than the youth in
grey for he could never be sure of it.

Simeon Deaves had a thousand foibles, some of which Evan found sadly
trying. For instance it was his delight to walk up and down the aisles
of department stores asking to be shown goods, and haggling over the
price withou