an, he was in the thick of it for ten years. I'll
acknowledge his stories are hair-raising, if one believed them; but
then, you see--"

"What's his address?"

Morton jerked his head towards the directories in the bookshelf.

"Find him there," he said. "I'll give you an introduction if you want
it. Though, mind you, I think he talks as much rot as anyone--"

"What does he say?"

"Lord!--I don't know. Some theory or other. But, at any rate, he's
given it up."

Laurie pursed his lips.

"I daresay I'll ask you some time," he said. "Meanwhile--"

"Meanwhile, for the Lord's sake, get on with that business you've got
there."

* * * * *

Mr. Morton was indeed, as Laurie had reflected, extraordinarily
uninterested in things outside his beat; and his beat was not a very
extended one. He was a quite admirable barrister, competent, alert,
merciless and kindly at the proper times, and, while at his business,
thought of hardly anything else at all. And when he was not at his
business, he threw himself with equal zest into two or three other
occupations--golf, dining out, and the collection of a particular kind
of chairs. Beyond these things there was for him really nothing of
value.

But, owing to circumstances, his beat had been further extended to
include Laurie Baxter, whom he was beginning to like extremely. There
was an air of romance about Laurie, a pleasant enthusiasm, excellent
manners, and a rather delightful faculty of hero-worship. Mr. Morton
himself, too, while possessing nothing even resembling a religion,
was, like many other people, not altogether unattracted towards those
who had, though he thought religiousness to be a sign of a slightly
incompetent character; and he rather liked Laurie's Catholicism, such
as it was. It must be rather pleasant, he considered (when he
considered it at all), to believe "all that," as he would have said.

So this new phase of Laurie's interested him far more than he would
have allowed, so soon as he became aware that it was not merely
superficial; and, indeed, Laurie's constant return to the subject, as
well as his air of enthusiastic conviction, soon convinced him that
this was so.

Further, after a week or two, he became aware that the young man's
work was suffering; and he heard from his lips the expression of
certain views that seemed to the elder man extremely unhealthy.

For example, on a Friday evening, not much afterwards, as Lau