these they could only invite a small
selection to the dinner party. It was a case in which principle clashed
with principle.

"We'll have Gertrude and Hector too," he announced.

He had just remembered that Walkingshaw & Gilliflower were briefing
Hector in a forthcoming case, and that there had been some discussion in
the office as to the precisely proper fee to which, at that moment in
his upward career, he was entitled. He would set this dinner against the
odd two guineas in dispute. That, anyhow was an equitable principle, if
ever there was one.

"And of course Lord and Lady Kilconquar?"

"Of course," said Andrew.

"And Sir William Sinclair?"

Andrew nodded.

"Must we ask the Mackintoshes?"

Andrew frowned.

"They'll do for our next dinner."

That was not going to be quite so smart a function.

"That's twenty-two," said Mrs. Walkingshaw.

"Just the right number," replied her husband. "It was what the
Kilconquars had when we dined there."

Everything that Andrew had done was right, and his circumstances
reflected his rectitude. No dodging about devious lanes in the fog for
him and Mrs. Walkingshaw; no slow progress in crowded omnibuses; no
Bohemian teas in paint-smelling studios. The streets through which they
passed were wide and stately, even if a trifle windy; a motor car
whirled them to their destination (which was always the right place to
be seen at); their meals were consumed in sedate Georgian apartments,
and in every detail would have satisfied a peer. They moved through
life on oiled and noiseless wheels, wrapped in comfort and attended by
respect. Let no carping critic say that the good things in this life
are not distributed according to the most laudable principle. The
guinea-fowl lays where she sees a nest-egg, and the larger it is the
more does she deposit. And the prosperous nest-owner is he who stays
always beside his treasure, gently coaxing the fowl, and vigilantly
guarding against the least suspicion of disturbance, theft, or injury.
Let anything happen that may in the world outside; here is his post of
duty, and he sticks to it.

It is true that for a short while an uncomfortable shadow seemed to
cloud the serenity of Andrew's soul. This happened about the second
anniversary of his late father's removal from his native city to that
retreat where he ended his days, and was believed by his aunt to result
from the painful memories evoked by his recollection of the date. It is
cert