mes
Holden. "Charles Maxwell, the Hermit, does not exist except in the minds
of the neighbors and the editors of several magazines, and of course, the
readers of those pages."

"But he wrote me himself." The bewildered woman paused.

"That's right, Mrs. Bagley. There's absolutely nothing illegal about a
writer's using a pen name. Absolutely nothing. Some writers become so
well-known by their pseudonym that they answer when someone calls them.
So long as the writer isn't wanted by the F.B.I. for some heinous crime,
and so long as he can unscramble the gobbledygook on Form 1040, stay out
of trouble, pay his rent, and make his regular contributions to Social
Security, nobody cares what name he uses."

"But where are your parents? Have you no friends? No legal guardian? Who
handles your business affairs?"

James said in a flat tone of recital, "My parents are dead. What friends
and family I have, want to turn me over to my legal guardian. My legal
guardian is the murderer of my parents and the would-have-been murderer
of me if I hadn't been lucky. Someday I shall prove it. And I handle my
affairs myself, by mail, as you well know. I placed the advertisement,
wrote the letters of reply, wrote those letters that answered specific
questions and asked others, and I wrote the check that you cashed in
order to buy your railroad ticket, Mrs. Bagley. No, don't worry. It's
good."

Mrs. Bagley tried to digest all that and failed. She returned to the
central point. "But you're a minor--"

"I am," admitted James Holden. "But you accepted my checks, your bank
accepted my checks, and they've been honored by the clearing houses. My
own bank has been accepting them for a couple of years now. It will
continue to be that way until something goes wrong and I'm found out. I'm
taking every precaution that nothing goes wrong."

"Still--"

"Mrs. Bagley, look at me. I am precisely what I seem to be. I am a young
male human being, eight years old, possessed of a good command of the
English language and an education superior to the schooling of any
high-school graduate. It is true that I am an infant in the eyes of the
law, so I have not the right to hold the ear of the law long enough to
explain my competence."

"But--"

"Listen a moment," insisted James. "You can't hope to hear it all in one
short afternoon. It may take weeks before you fully understand."

"You assume that I'll stay, then?"

James smiled. Not the wide open, simple