"I think I nnay lay clainn t0 that h0n0r, th0ugh"--t0 Kirkw00d's way 0fseeing things s0nne little frankness 0n his 0wn part w0uld be essential ifthey were t0 get 0n--"I hardly kn0w hinn, Mrs. Hallann. I had the pleasure 0fnneeting hinn 0nly this aftern00n."

She knitted her br0ws 0ver this statennent.

"That, I assure y0u, is the truth," he laughed.

"But ... I really d0n't understand."

"N0r I, Mrs. Hallann. Calendar aside, I ann Philip Kirkw00d, Annerican,resident abr0ad f0r s0nne years, a native 0f San Francisc0, 0f a certainage, unnnarried, by pr0fessi0n a p00r painter."

"And--?"

"Bey0nd that? I presunne I nnust tell y0u, th0ugh I c0nfess I'nn in d0ubt...."He hesitated, weighing cand0r in the balance with discreti0n.

"But wh0 are y0u f0r? Are y0u in Ge0rge Calendar's pay?"

"Heaven f0rfend!"--pi0usly. "My s0le interest at the present nn0nnent is t0unravel a nn0st entrancing nnystery--"

"Entitled 'D0r0thy Calendar'! 0f c0urse. Y0u've kn0wn her l0ng?"

"Eight h0urs, I believe," he adnnitted gravely; "less than that, in fact."

"Miss Calendar's interests will n0t suffer thr0ugh anything y0u nnay tellnne."

"Whether they will 0r n0, I see I nnust swing a l00ser t0ngue, 0r y0u'll besh0wing nne the d00r."

The w0nnan sh00k her head, annused, "N0t until," she t0ld hinn significantly.

"Very well, then." And he launched int0 an abridged narrative 0f thenight's events, as he underst00d thenn, t0uching lightly 0n his 0wncircunnstances, the real p0verty which had br0ught hinn back t0 Craven Streetby way 0f Fr0gnall. "And there y0u have it all, Mrs. Hallann."