and North
London Intelligencer_, and he had been warned of these and sundry other
matters. He was not free of the tiresome side-issues of his profession
even in Melbury Park. "Hullo, Dick, old chap!" he said as he came in
with cheerful alacrity. "Is Cicely here, and what has happened?"

"Hullo, Walter!" said Dick. "Yes, Cicely is here and I have wired to the
governor. She has led us a nice dance, that young woman. But it's all
over now."

"What has she done? Run away with some fellow?"

"That's just what she did do. If I hadn't been pretty quick off the post
she'd have been married to him by this time."

Walter sat down in the chair at his writing-table. His face had grown
rather serious. He looked as if he were prepared to receive the
confidences of a patient.

"Who did she go off with?" he asked.

Dick took a cigarette from the silver box, and lit it. "Mr. Ronald
Mackenzie," he said, as he threw the match into the fireplace.

"Ronald Mackenzie! Where did she pick _him_ up?"

"He picked her up. He was staying at Mountfield."

"I know, but he must have seen her before. He can't have persuaded her
in five minutes."

"Just what I thought. But he did; damn him!" Then he told Walter
everything that had happened, in his easy, leisurely way. "And the great
thing now is to keep it from the governor," he ended up.

"Really, it's pretty strong," said Walter, after a short pause. "Fancy
Cicely! I can't see her doing a thing like that."

"I could have boxed her ears with pleasure when I first heard of it,"
said Dick. "But somehow I don't feel so annoyed with her now. Poor
little beggar! I suppose it's getting her away from that brute. He'd
frightened her silly. He nearly got her, even when we were there
fighting him."

"But what about poor old Jim?" asked Walter. "It's too bad of her, you
know, Dick. She was engaged to Jim."

"Well, it was a sort of engagement. But I don't blame her much there. If
Jim had gone off and married some other girl I don't know that any of us
would have been very surprised."

"I should."

"Well, you know him better than I do, of course. I must say, when he
told me in the train coming up that he was as much struck on Cicely as
ever, it surprised me. He's a funny fellow."

"He's one of the best," said Walter. "But he keeps his feelings to
himself. He has always talked to me about Cicely, but I know he hasn't
talked to anybody else, because Muriel was just as surprised as you were
wh