the case were to be contested, it would be
different, but, in this instance, there is consent of both parties,
which simplifies matters. This case is reduced to a matter of mere
form and business."

"Apparently, then, my statements may be a tissue of lies from beginning
to end, for all the difference it makes," observed Thorne, curious to
discover how small a penknife could now cut the bond which once the
scythe of death alone was held to be able to sever.

"For your veracity, Mr. Thorne, your appearance is a sufficient
voucher," responded the lawyer, with a ready courtesy. "And the
looseness on which you comment, recollect, is all in your favor. When
a man has an unpleasant piece of business in hand, it's surely an
immense advantage to be able to accomplish it speedily and privately."

Thorne walked in the direction of his hotel in a state of
preoccupation. He was sore and irritated; he disliked it all
intensely; it jarred upon him and offended his taste. Over and over he
cursed it all for a damnable business from beginning to end. He was
perfectly aware, reasoning from cause to effect, that the situation
was, in some sort, his own fault; but that was a poor consolation.
That side of the question did not readily present itself; his horizon
was occupied by the nearer and more personal view. He loathed it all,
and was genuinely sorry for himself and conscious that fate was dealing
hardly by him.

As he turned a corner, he ran against a tall, handsome young lady, who
put out her hand and caught his arm to steady herself, laughing gayly:

"Take care, Nesbit!" she exclaimed, "you nearly knocked me down. Since
when have you taken to emulating Mrs. Wilfer's father, and 'felling'
your relatives to the earth?"

"Why, Norma! is it really you?" he questioned, refusing to admit the
evidence of sight and touch unfortified by hearing.

He was genuinely delighted to see her, and foresaw that she would be a
comfort to him during the days that must elapse before it became
possible for him to start for Illinois. He needed sympathy and some
one to make much of him. And Norma, with her lustrous eyes aglow with
the pleasure of the meeting, appeared to divine it, for she set herself
to entertain him with little incidents and adventures of her journey
from Virginia, and with scraps of intelligence of the people at home.
She did not mention Pocahontas, save in reply to a direct inquiry, and
then simply stated that she had sp