ng of no delay whatever. He knew no one
who could act as a messenger on an errand of this character. Dillard
had said he would drop in at noon, but he had duties of his own. He must
go himself. There was no other course open. When he had come to this
decision Glenning took a quick inventory of his physical condition. The
wound over his right lung was his most serious hurt. The burns which he
had sustained were only on the surface, and while they were quite
painful, they would not prevent his proposed journey. Strange to say,
his face had scarcely been touched by the fire. There was an ugly welt
about two inches long upon his left cheek, and a scratch or two upon his
forehead and neck; that was all. His hair was badly singed, as he
discovered when he endeavored to brush it. He made his toilet as
carefully as possible, finding shaving a task for a stoic, but going
through with it nevertheless. By twelve he was appareled in a neat gray
suit and clean linen, and feeling very much himself. He went down to the
dining-room early, and was grateful to be assigned to a table in an
obscure corner. It was his especial desire right now to be unnoticed,
and besides he had an innate abhorrence of publicity; of being looked at
and commented upon, even though favorably.

The boy who had brought his breakfast approached in a deferential way
for his order, which Glenning gave with the request that it be served
quickly. But before it came he began to realize the penalty of
greatness. The guests of the hotel commenced to assemble, and every one
that entered, male or female, big or little, cast their eyes about until
they found the hero in his corner. And the painful part of it was they
did not withdraw their eyes after they had found him, but gazed and
gazed with truly rural interest, in which rudeness really had no place.
One little girl in brown curls even ventured to point, and ask, "Mama,
is that him?" before the maternal hand could grasp her arm, and the
paternal voice admonish her in a loud whisper to behave. Still his
dinner did not come, and he began to grow embarrassed. Finally, in
desperation, he drew some old letters from his pocket and began to
re-read them, finding such employment better suited to his taste than
staring sillily back at the many pairs of eyes which were now beholding
him. Directly a small envelope slipped from the packet in his hand and
fell face upward on the table. The address was in an unformed feminine
hand.