nt that led to this disastrous climax.

But the situation that left her so unaffected got on Don's nerves. He
was by nature too much of a social being to endure being left to
himself very long. This lunching alone day after day was a dreary
affair. The egg sandwiches began to pall upon his taste, and he felt
that he could not have eaten an eclair had he been starving.

Sometimes he had only a cup of coffee, and then hurried out and
wandered about the streets for the remainder of his hour. It was a
long hour--a tedious hour. Most of the time he spent in the hope that,
by some lucky chance, he might meet her. He did not hunt for her. He
avoided her usual course. If he met her, it must be honestly by
chance. But he never met her. He passed thousands of other young
women, but he never met her. He used to return to the office sometimes
doubting that she existed. But at one o'clock she was always there
back of her machine.

He spent a good deal of time that week with Powers; and seemed to make
some progress. He had now a definite knowledge of bonds and notes, and
had even mastered, in a general way, the important details of some of
the issues the house was handling. Twice he had taken home his papers
and actually spent several hours upon them. Some of them he knew
almost by heart. It was encouraging, but it would have been much more
encouraging if he had been able to tell Miss Winthrop about it.

Somehow, he did not feel that he really knew those things until he
had told her he knew them. This was a curious frame of mind to be in,
but it was a fact.

As far as he was concerned, he would have broken through this embargo
long ago. But she had made him see, and see clearly, that he was _not_
alone concerned. That was the whole trouble. If Blake talked only
about him, and let it go at that, no harm would be done.

One Friday morning, toward eleven o'clock, Blake was out of the
office, and Don had just finished a long talk with Powers, when he
noticed that Miss Winthrop was not for the moment busy.

Don had an inspiration. He caught Powers just as he was about to
leave.

"Look here, old man," he said in an undertone. "Is there any objection
to my dictating a letter to Miss Winthrop?"

"Why, no," answered Powers. "She's there for the use of the staff."

"Thought I'd like to have her take down some of the things we've been
talking about," he explained.

"Good idea," nodded Powers.

A minute later Miss Winthrop caught