er the ailanthus tree. He hesitated on the
pavement, his eyes searching the shadowy balcony.

"Sidney?"

"Here! Right back here!"

There was vibrant gladness in her tone. He came slowly toward them.

"My brother is not at home, so I came over. How select you are, with
your balcony!"

"Can you see the step?"

"Coming, with bells on."

K. had risen and pushed back his chair. His mind was working quickly.
Here in the darkness he could hold the situation for a moment. If he
could get Sidney into the house, the rest would not matter. Luckily, the
balcony was very dark.

"Is any one ill?"

"Mother is not well. This is Mr. Le Moyne, and he knows who you are very
well, indeed."

The two men shook hands.

"I've heard a lot of Mr. Le Moyne. Didn't the Street beat the Linburgs
the other day? And I believe the Rosenfelds are in receipt of sixty-five
cents a day and considerable peace and quiet through you, Mr. Le Moyne.
You're the most popular man on the Street."

"I've always heard that about YOU. Sidney, if Dr. Wilson is here to see
your mother--"

"Going," said Sidney. "And Dr. Wilson is a very great person, K., so be
polite to him."

Max had roused at the sound of Le Moyne's voice, not to suspicion,
of course, but to memory. Without any apparent reason, he was back in
Berlin, tramping the country roads, and beside him--

"Wonderful night!"

"Great," he replied. "The mind's a curious thing, isn't it. In the
instant since Miss Page went through that window I've been to Berlin and
back! Will you have a cigarette?"

"Thanks; I have my pipe here."

K. struck a match with his steady hands. Now that the thing had come, he
was glad to face it. In the flare, his quiet profile glowed against the
night. Then he flung the match over the rail.

"Perhaps my voice took you back to Berlin."

Max stared; then he rose. Blackness had descended on them again, except
for the dull glow of K.'s old pipe.

"For God's sake!"

"Sh! The neighbors next door have a bad habit of sitting just inside the
curtains."

"But--you!"

"Sit down. Sidney will be back in a moment. I'll talk to you, if you'll
sit still. Can you hear me plainly?"

After a moment--"Yes."

"I've been here--in the city, I mean--for a year. Name's Le Moyne. Don't
forget it--Le Moyne. I've got a position in the gas office, clerical. I
get fifteen dollars a week. I have reason to think I'm going to be moved
up. That will be twenty, maybe twenty-two."

W