nvitation from the little man to dine. They
had reached the avenue after walking in silence through a side street.
Such moments were rare with Teevan. Not often did he fail of speech,
even in his periods of calculation. But this was a moment requiring nice
adjustments. The suggestion about dinner came as they paused at the
corner.

"If you'd like to have me I'd be mighty glad," responded Ewing.

They turned toward Ninth Street, and Ewing told of his hour at Mrs.
Lowndes', scarce conscious of Teevan's questioning, for the little man
probed with an air of discreet condolence that would have won a far more
reticent talker. Ewing was gratified by this attention from a man who
knew the world of cities, and whose mind must usually be occupied with
affairs of importance. He felt himself drawn to Teevan by bonds of
sympathy that tightened momentarily.

"My dear mother-in-law is a sentimental thing," the little man confessed
with a delicate intimation of apology. "She makes any sad tale her own.
The theater affects her, the woes of stage creatures, quite as you tell
me your own very human little story did. My arrival must have saved you
from one of her rather absurd manifestations. She's a dear old soul,
with quantities of temperament, but she recovers with amazing facility,
I'm bound to say. If you met her to-morrow she'd likely freeze you with
a nod."

Ewing was not sorry to hear this, though he thought it hardly polite to
say so.

When they reached the house in Ninth Street Teevan ushered in his guest
with a charming hospitality.

"Come to the library. The man will bring you an _aperitif_ while I
escape from this accursed frock coat. Not a word about your own dress! I
took you as you were--but a jacket for me, if you'll pardon it." A
servant entered in answer to his ring.

"Sherry and bitters, Farrish, and Mr. Ewing will dine with us. Is my son
in?"

"Mr. Alden is dining out, sir."

"All the better, my boy. We shall be the chummier for Alden's absence.
Make the house yours while I change. There are the evening papers; or
perhaps you'll be interested by those cabinet bits--jades and scarabs
and junk of that sort; a few fairish pieces of Greek glass--that Tanagra
isn't bad, nor those Limoges enamels. The netsukes and sword guards are
rather good Japanese bits, and there are one or two exquisite etchings
on ivory--_un instant, n'est-ce pas?_"

Ewing lay back in his chair and sipped the sherry when it came. His
enjo