ts. Tommy waved his hand, in a deprecatory way, and
rising from his chair, said "good night," and betook himself to bed.

It was plain that he was quite alone in his discovery. What was he to do?
To speak to Miss Owen on the subject was out of the question. The only
alternative was to communicate the good news to "Cobbler" Horn himself.
But there seemed to be stupendous difficulties involved in such a course.
He was aware that there was nothing his friend would more rejoice to know
than that which he had to tell. From various hints thrown out by "Cobbler"
Horn, Tommy knew that he regarded Miss Owen with much of the fondness of
a father; and it was not likely that the joy of finding his lost child
would be diminished in the least by the fact that she had presented
herself in the person of his secretary. But this consideration did not
relieve the perplexity with which the little huckster contemplated the
necessity of making known his secret to "Cobbler" Horn. For, to say
nothing of the initial obstacle of his own timidity, he feared it would
be almost impossible to convince his friend that his strange surmise was
correct. If "Cobbler" Horn had not discovered for himself the identity of
his secretary with his long-lost child, was it likely that he would accept
that astounding fact on the testimony of any other person?

It is needless to say that Tommy Dudgeon made his perplexity a matter of
prayer. He prayed and pondered, night and day; and, at length a thought
came to him which seemed to point out the way of which he was in search.
Might he not give "Cobbler" Horn some covert hint which would put him on
the track of making the great discovery for himself? Surely some such
thing, though difficult, might be done! He must indeed be cautious, and
not by any means reveal his design. The suggestion must seem to be
incidental and unpremeditated. There must be no actual mention of little
Marian, and no apparently intentional indication of Miss Owen. Something
must be said which might induce "Cobbler" Horn to associate the idea of
his little lost Marian with that of his young secretary--to place them
side by side before his mind. And it must all arise in the course of
conversation, the order of which--he Tommy Dudgeon, must deliberately
plan. The audacity of the thought made his hair stand up.

It was a delicate undertaking indeed! The little man felt like a surgeon
about to perform a critical operation upon his dearest friend. He