ink of Panky?"

"I could not make him out. If he had not been a Bridgeford Professor I
might have liked him; but you know how we all of us distrust those
people."

"Where did you meet him?"

"About two hours lower down than the statues."

"At what o'clock?"

"It might be between two and half-past."

"I suppose he did not say that at that hour he was in bed at his hotel in
Sunch'ston. Hardly! Tell me what passed between you."

"He had his permit open before we were within speaking distance. I think
he feared I should attack him without making sure whether he was a
foreign devil or no. I have told you he said he was Professor Panky."

"I suppose he had a dark complexion and black hair like the rest of us?"

"Dark complexion and hair purplish rather than black. I was surprised to
see that his eyelashes were as light as my own, and his eyes were blue
like mine--but you will have noticed this at dinner."

"No, my dear, I did not, and I think I should have done so if it had been
there to notice."

"Oh, but it was so indeed."

"Perhaps. Was there anything strange about his way of talking?"

"A little about his grammar, but these Bridgeford Professors have often
risen from the ranks. His pronunciation was nearly like yours and mine."

"Was his manner friendly?"

"Very; more so than I could understand at first. I had not, however,
been with him long before I saw tears in his eyes, and when I asked him
whether he was in distress, he said I reminded him of a son whom he had
lost and had found after many years, only to lose him almost immediately
for ever. Hence his cordiality towards me."

"Then," said Yram half hysterically to herself, "he knew who you were.
Now, how, I wonder, did he find that out?" All vestige of doubt as to
who the man might be had now left her.

"Certainly he knew who I was. He spoke about you more than once, and
wished us every kind of prosperity, baring his head reverently as he
spoke."

"Poor fellow! Did he say anything about Higgs?"

"A good deal, and I was surprised to find he thought about it all much as
we do. But when I said that if I could go down into the hell of which
Higgs used to talk to you while he was in prison, I should expect to find
him in its hottest fires, he did not like it."

"Possibly not, my dear. Did you tell him how the other boys, when you
were at school, used sometimes to say you were son to this man Higgs, and
that the people of Sunch'ston