he began impressively.

"Yes."

"When I looked de nex' time, it was gone."

"Good! She had taken it in." Laurie drew a breath of relief.

"No, sah. Dat ain't all." The boy's tone dripped evil tidings. "She
brung it back!"

"What!" His passenger was staring at him in concern.

"Yaas, sah. De bell rung fum her flo', an' when I got up de young lady
was standin' dere wid dat basket in her hand."

He paused to give Laurie the effect of the tableau, and saw by his
visitor's expression that he had got it fully.

"Yes? Go on!"

"She look at me mighty sharp. She got brown eyes dat look right _thoo_
you," he interpolated briskly. "Den she say, 'Sam, who done lef' dat
basket at my do'?' I say, 'I done it, miss. It was lef' in de hall, an'
de ca'd got yo' name on it. Ain't you order it?' I say.

"'No,' she say, 'dis yere basket ain't fo' me. Take it, an' ef you
cain't find out who belong to it, eat dis yere lunch yo'self.'"

He paused. Laurie's stunned silence was a sufficient tribute to his
eloquence, but Sam had not yet reached his climax. He introduced it now,
with fine effect.

"Bimeby," he went on unctuously, "I took dat basket back to her. I say,
'Miss Mayo,' I say, 'I done foun' out 'bout dat basket. 'T was lef' by a
lady artis' here what got a tergram an' went away sudden. She want dat
food et, so she sent it to you.'"

Laurie regarded him with admiration.

"That was pretty good for extemporaneous lying," he commented. "I
suppose you can do even better when you take more time to it. What did
the lady say?"

Sam shook a mournful head.

"She jes' look at me, an' she kinda smile, an' den she say, 'Sam, dis
yere basket 'noys me. Ef de lady wants it et, Sam, you eat it yo'self."
He paused. "I et it," he ended, solemnly.

Laurie's lips twitched under conflicting emotions, but he closed the
interview with a fair imitation of indifference.

"Oh, well," he said carelessly, "you must have been mistaken about the
whole thing. Evidently Miss Mayo, if that's her name, wasn't as hungry
as you were."

The boy nodded and started the car on its downward journey. As his
passenger got off on the ground floor, he gave him a new thought to
carry away with him.

"She'd bin cryin', dough," he muttered. "Her eyes was all red."

Laurie stopped and regarded him resentfully.

"Confound you!" he said, "What did you tell me that for? _I_ can't do
anything about it!"

The boy agreed, hurriedly. "No, sah," he assured him.