right lady to appear, and meanwhile dodged back from the
wrong one, a small, slim flapper in white, who for some reason had
paused before his door. She stood quite still, and stared up at him
unwinkingly, as a child stares.

"I beg your pardon," O'Reilly said, wanting to laugh. "May I pass? I
must look for a lady who----"

"I'm the lady," the creature in white intervened. "That is, I am if you
are Mr. O'Reilly."

"O'Reilly's my name," he admitted. "But I was expecting--or--perhaps my
cousin sent you?"

"Perhaps I am your cousin," suggested the girl who (Justin saw, now that
he looked her deliberately in the face) had the biggest, blackest eyes,
and the whitest skin he had ever seen. She had, also, red hair under a
fetching hat. Although the child was no beauty, she had an amusing,
elfin air.

"Delighted, I'm sure," he felt obliged to answer. "I thought I had only
one cousin in the world, Theresa O'Reilly, of Gramercy Park. But----"

"It sounds like the chorus of a song; 'Theresa O'Reilly, of Gramercy
Park,'" Clo was unable to resist remarking, with her strongest brogue.
"Will you please ask me in?" she said. "My errand's very pressing."

Mechanically the man stepped aside and let her walk into the room. He
began to suspect that he had been "spoofed." He did not invite the young
person to be seated, but looked at her expectantly. Her first move was
to shut the door. She did not speak.

"May I know your name?" he inquired, as they faced each other.

"The same as yours, but for a letter or two," said Clo, marking time.
"That's why I may be a cousin; one never knows. I didn't come to talk
about the family tree, though, Mr. O'Reilly. I came to beg--not for
money, so don't be frightened."

"I'm not conscious of fear," laughed O'Reilly. He couldn't help
laughing. He didn't believe the girl's name was the "same as his." "If
I'm not afraid, I am curious," he confessed. "What are you going to beg
for, if not money? Is this a message from my cousin----?"

Clo ceased suddenly to be impish. She had got into the enemy's fastness
by her impishness, but she could go no further on that line. This man,
being the exact opposite of the type expected, upset her plan. A big
danger was that she might like this O'Reilly instead of hating him, he
was so pleasant and gallant-looking, more a protector than a persecutor
of women. She might hesitate to cheat or trick him in whatever way came
handy, and thus fail the Angel on top of al