it. Alack and well a-day.
Phillida flouts me!"

It was the night after the hospital ball, and Lessing was dining at his
favourite restaurant, hoping thereby to counteract a fit of unusual
depression. He had not enjoyed that ball; it was borne in upon him that
Delia had not intended him to enjoy it. She had deliberately filled her
programme before the night, and vouchsafed him only one extra, and
during the dancing thereof had stopped three times over to inquire if he
were _quite_ sure he was not bored! Delia was angry with him. Delia
most pronouncedly was disposed to "flout." There was an ache at
Lessing's heart which seemed ludicrously out of proportion with the
cause.

For the first half of his meal he sat alone at his table, then the seat
opposite him was taken by one of the swarthy bearded foreigners with
which the place abounded. He was a man of early middle age, with a mop
of black hair slightly tinged with grey, overhanging eyebrows, and a
general air of poverty and Bohemianism. He ate hungrily, as though such
good food did not often come his way, and as he ate his eyes roamed
stealthily round the room. Lessing decided that he was in search of a
confederate--the man's appearance suggested the word--and that he was
puzzled and alarmed by the absence of what he sought. He decided to
dally with his own meal so as to see this thing out. Many a time he had
longed for an opportunity of adventure. Now it might be at hand. If
the two men met, he would leave the restaurant in their wake and track
them through the narrow streets! He recalled written scenes concerning
open doorways, fights on staircases, and the like, and thrilled with
anticipation.

Throughout his meal the Bearded One continued his scrutiny, and Lessing
noticed that his glance lingered tentatively on one or two men present
as though uncertain of their identity. It was not entirely by
appearance, then, that he could distinguish his confederate! There was
evidently a sign which would expose one to the other, and then suddenly,
with his eyes fixed on a diner at an adjacent table, the Bearded One
raised his knife, and with a clean, incisive movement swept the salt
from his plate on to the table.

The other diner ate on undisturbed, but an electric shock of excitement
tingled through Lessing's veins. More than once before he had observed
this deliberate spilling of the salt on the round-topped tables of that
restaurant, so often, indeed, t