yler had set up housekeeping in a small establishment wherein
there was just room for a couple of people to turn round. Its
accommodation, indeed, was severely taxed just then, for Myler's father
and mother-in-law had come to visit him and their daughter, and when
Stoner walked in on the scene and added a fifth the tiny parlour was
filled to its full extent.

"Who'd ha' thought of seeing you, Stoner!" exclaimed Myler joyously,
when he had welcomed his old chum, and had introduced him to the family
circle. "And what brings you here, anyway? Business?"

"Just a bit of business," answered Stoner. "Nothing much, though--only a
call to make, later on. I'm stopping the night, though."

"Wish we could ha' put you up here, old sport!" said Myler, ruefully.
"But we don't live in a castle, yet. All full here!--unless you'd like a
shakedown on the kitchen table, or in the wood-shed. Or you can try the
bath, if you like."

Amidst the laughter which succeeded this pleasantry, Stoner said that he
wouldn't trouble the domestic peace so far--he'd already booked his
room. And while Myler--who, commercial-traveller like, cultivated a
reputation for wit--indulged in further jokes, Stoner stealthily
inspected the father-in-law. What a fortunate coincidence! he said to
himself; what a lucky stroke! There he was, wanting badly to find out
something about Wilchester--and here, elbow to elbow with him, was a
Wilchester man! And an elderly Wilchester man, too--one who doubtless
remembered all about Wilchester for many a long year. That was another
piece of luck, for Stoner was quite certain that if Cotherstone had ever
had any connexion with Wilchester it must have been a long, long time
ago: he knew, from information acquired, that Cotherstone had been a
fixture in Highmarket for thirty years.

He glanced at Myler's father-in-law again as Myler, remarking that when
old friends meet, the flowing bowl must flow, produced a bottle of
whisky from a brand-new chiffonier, and entreated his bride to fetch
what he poetically described as the crystal goblets and the sparkling
stream. The father-in-law was a little apple-faced old gentleman with
bright eyes and a ready smile, who evidently considered his son-in-law a
born wit, and was ready to laugh at all his sallies. A man of good
memory, that, decided Stoner, and wondered how he could diplomaticaly
lead Mr. Pursey to talk about the town he came from. But Mr. Pursey was
shortly to talk about Wilc