suspension bridge. At five-and-twenty to seven I took up a
position between the peninsula and the bridge to await my colleague.
He ought to have relieved me at half-past six, but did not arrive until
a few minutes before seven, owing, so he explained, to the breaking
down of his motor-'bus--which may have been true or may not, as the
saying is.

I had just come to a halt, when my attention was arrested by a lady. I
am unable to explain why the presence of a lady in St. James's Park
should have seemed in any way worthy of notice except that, for certain
reasons, she reminded me of my first wife. I observed that she
hesitated between one of the public seats and two vacant chairs
standing by themselves a little farther to the east. Eventually she
selected one of the chairs, and, having cleaned it with an evening
paper--the birds in this portion of the Park being extremely
prolific--sat down upon it. There was plenty of room upon the public
seat close to it, except for some children who were playing touch; and
in consequence of this I judged her to be a person of means.

I walked to a point from where I could command the southern approaches
to the bridge, my colleague arriving sometimes by way of Birdcage Walk
and sometimes by way of the Horse Guards Parade. Not seeing any signs
of him in the direction of the bridge, I turned back. A little way
past the chair where the lady was sitting I met Mr. Parable. I know
Mr. Parable quite well by sight. He was wearing the usual grey suit
and soft felt hat with which the pictures in the newspapers have made
us all familiar. I judged that Mr. Parable had come from the Houses of
Parliament, and the next morning my suspicions were confirmed by
reading that he had been present at a tea-party given on the terrace by
Mr. Will Crooks. Mr. Parable conveyed to me the suggestion of a man
absorbed in thought, and not quite aware of what he was doing; but in
this, of course, I may have been mistaken. He paused for a moment to
look over the railings at the pelican. Mr. Parable said something to
the pelican which I was not near enough to overhear; and then, still
apparently in a state of abstraction, crossed the path and seated
himself on the chair next to that occupied by the young lady.

From the tree against which I was standing I was able to watch the
subsequent proceedings unobserved. The lady looked at Mr. Parable and
then turned away and smiled to herself. It was a peculiar