ertainly the better _chef_, if, instead of wreaking a messy
violence on himself in his master's kitchen, he had contrived an
_entree_ to replace the missing fish. And we should remember, too, that
the French, good cooks as they are, have but elaborated an art for the
germinal principals of which they are indebted to Italian genius. Italy
first saw the revival of cookery as she first saw the revival of
learning. The land of Savarin lay in darkness until light was brought by
those incomparable artists in the train of Catharine de Medicis. One
might recall how Montaigne was captivated in the land of Horace by the
weighty manner of the _chef_ of Cardinal Caraffa in discoursing upon the
occultisms of his art. The Italians even then held the thing hardly
second to theology.

The little man here permitted a pause in which he discarded his
cigarette and readjusted the carnation in his lapel, with a sniff at its
spiciness. Then he turned graciously to Ewing.

"But I must be off--time races so in this little nook! If you're
stepping on, Mr.--Ah, yes--Ewing, to be sure--if you're leaving, I shall
be glad to join you as far as the avenue. My dutiful love, lady, and to
you, doctor, that virtue which superstition ascribes to your pellets.
The word 'health' could never have been coined by the healthy, could it?
I dislike to use the word baldly."

Ewing rose, glad of the exit thus provided. It was kind of people to
concern themselves about his affairs, but he wished they could be less
peculiar. He bowed to Mrs. Lowndes and shook hands with the doctor. He,
at least, was understandable.

When they had gone the old lady faced her friend with a calmness that
surprised him.

"Fred, what sorry, what terrible things can make us young again! I feel
now as I felt that other night--just at this hour so many years
ago--when I knew she'd gone--knew she'd gone."

"He's Kitty's boy." The big man fronted her as if for a feat of
persuasion.

"Don't, Fred! I've just weathered that point. I was weak, but
Randall--Randall saved me. He's dreadful, Fred, unnatural,
impossible--oh, terribly impossible!" She faced him dauntlessly, her
cheeks glowing with faint spots of color.

"I liked him, Kitty. He seems----"

"You're a physician, accustomed to monstrosities. He's something we
don't speak of, my friend. And see--you _must_ see--what he would suffer
if he knew."

CHAPTER XVI

TEEVAN AS SPECIAL PROVIDENCE

Ewing was delighted by an i