ay pretty things which he had
better have omitted; but she presently became absent-minded in the face
of his attentions, and interpreting this as an unfavourable sign, he
ventured to ask her why she was so pensive.

"I'm afraid you must think me awfully rude," she said, "and really I've
listened to all the nice things you've been saying, half of which I
don't deserve, but the fact is, this place, and even this very room, are
full of sweet associations for me. It was in that little church, just
across the road, that I was married four years ago."

"But I thought," he began, "that the Justice of the Peace said that he
married you."

"So he did," she returned softly, "but that was different--it was
later."

"Eh? What!" he said, "later?"

"Yes," she replied dreamily, not noticing the interruption. "But it was
here that the few sweet days of my first honeymoon were passed. 'Twas
here I became the bride of the only man I've ever loved, the bride of--"

"Hist!" cried the tramp, who had been looking out of the window. "The
house is watched!" And with this announcement Banborough's tete-a-tete
came to an abrupt close.

"Are you sure?" cried Spotts.

"Positive. There are three cops fooling round in front now."

"What shall we do?" cried Smith.

"Git," rejoined the tramp.

"But how?" queried Banborough.

"Oh, I'll fix that all right," said the Quaker. "I bagged a plated
tea-service here five years ago, and if they ain't changed the
arrangements of the house, this side door leads into an unused passage,
which, barrin' the climbin' of a picket fence, is very handy for
escape."

"But how about the waiter?" suggested Mrs. Mackintosh, who was always
practical.

"Right you are," said Friend Othniel. "We'll lock the door before we get
out. They'll waste time enough over trying to open it, to give us a
chance."

To speak was to act, and the tramp softly turned the key and slipped it
into his pocket.

"As a memento," he said. "It's all I'm likely to git. They don't even
use plate now." And he fingered the spoons and forks on the table
regretfully.

"Come," said Spotts shortly. "We've no time to lose."

"Look here," said Banborough to the company, "I may be a criminal, but
I'm not a sneak, and I don't order meals and apartments without paying
for them. How much ought I to leave behind?"

Spotts laughed.

"If you put it that way, I guess ten dollars'll cover it," he said.

The Englishman threw a bill on the tabl