g a little to himself.

He knew most of the Drummonds' friends, and yet never before had he
heard of an affluent motor-driving Mr Taylor among them. Still, there
was nothing surprising about that, for one may make a new friend any
day, and one's old friends never hear of him for long enough.

The really unusual features about this telegram were its length and
clearness and the elaborate injunctions against troubling to answer it.

Robert Drummond was an excellent and Christian man, but he had never
been remarkable for profuse expenditure. In fact, he guarded his
bawbees very carefully indeed, and among other judicious precautions he
never sent telegrams if he could help it, and when fate forced his
hand, kept very rigorously within the twelve-word limit. His telegrams
in consequence were celebrated more for their conciseness than their
clarity. Yet here he was sending a telegram thirty-four words long,
apart from the address and signature, and spending halfpenny after
halfpenny with reckless profusion to make every detail explicit!

Particularly curious were the three clauses all devoted to saving Mr
Burnett the trouble of replying. Never before had Mr Drummond shown
such extraordinary consideration for a friend's purse, and it is a
discouraging feature of human nature that even the worthy Mr Burnett
felt more puzzled than touched by his generous thoughtfulness.

"Robert Drummond never wrote out that wire himself," he concluded. "He
must just have told some one what he wanted to say, and they must have
written it themselves. Well, we'll hope they paid for it too, or
Robert will be terrible annoyed."

The afternoon wore on, and as six o'clock drew near, the minister began
to look out for Mr Taylor and his car. But six o'clock passed, and
quarter-past six, and still there was no sign of him. The minister
began to grow a little worried lest they should have to do most of the
journey in the dark, for he was an inexperienced motorist, and such a
long drive by night seemed to him a formidable and risky undertaking.

At last at half-past six the thrum of a car was heard, and a few
minutes later a long, raking, dark-green touring car dashed up to the
door of the modest manse. The minister hurried out to welcome his
guest, and then stopped dead short in sheer astonishment. Mr Taylor
was none other than the Lancashire lad.

On his part, Mr Taylor seemed almost equally surprised.

"Well, I'm blowed!" he cried j