surance returned.

"You're not a crowned head or an escaped princess or anything of that
kind, are you?" he asked politely.

This time she really laughed, a soft, low gurgle of laughter, joyous and
contagious.

"No."

"Then let's get back to our bank-account. We have plenty of time to run
over to the Fifth Avenue branch of the Corn Exchange Bank before the
closing-hour. What color of check-book do you prefer?"

"I told you," she declared with sudden seriousness, "that my bargain did
not include sponging."

For the first time in the somewhat taxing interview her companion's good
humor deserted him.

"My dear girl," he said, almost impatiently, "don't beat the devil
around the bush! You've got to live till we can find the right work for
you, and that may take some time. You have intelligence enough to see
that I'm neither a gay Lothario nor a Don Juan. In your present state of
mind you're not fit to decide anything. Make up your mind, once for all,
that I'm going to decide for you. It will save us both some trouble."

He stopped. He had discovered that she was not listening to him. She was
sitting absolutely still, her head a little turned. Her lips were
slightly parted, and her eyes, wide and staring, were fixed on some one
across the room.

Laurie's eyes followed hers. They focused on a man sitting alone at a
little table. It was clear that he had just entered, for a waiter stood
by his side, and the new-comer was giving judicious attention to the
bill of fare.

He was a harmless-looking person, of medium height and rather more than
medium stoutness, carelessly dressed in a blue-serge suit. His
indifference to dress was further betrayed by the fact that his
ready-made black four-in-hand tie had slipped the mooring of a white
bone stud, leaving that useful adjunct of the toilet open to the eyes of
the world. His face was round, smooth-shaven, and rather pale. He had
dark brown hair, surprisingly sleek, and projecting, slightly veiled
gray eyes, which blinked near-sightedly at the menu. Altogether he was a
seemingly worthy person, to whom the casual observer would hardly have
given a second glance.

While the two pairs of eyes across the room stared at him, he confided
his order to the waiter. It seemed a brief order, for the brow of the
latter clouded as he wrote it down and detachedly strolled off. The
new-comer leaned back in his chair, and, as he did so, glanced around
the room. His projecting eyes, mov