the sidewalk Mr. Bentley halted.

"If you were intending to telephone Dr. Jarvis, Mr. Hodder, there is a
public station in the drug store just above here. I know that clergymen
are busy persons, and I am passing it, if you are pressed for time."

"My only concern is to get Jarvis here," said the rector. "If I may go
with you--"

Once again in the hot sunlight, reaction had set in. Hodder was suddenly
unstrung, and the kindly old gentleman beside him seemed for the
instant the only fixture in a chaotic universe. It was not until later
reflection that he realized Mr. Bentley might, by an intuitive sympathy,
a depth of understanding, have drained something of his state, since the
incidents which followed were to be accounted for on no other grounds.
In such elemental moments the frail conventions are swept away: Mr.
Bentley, whoever he might be, was no longer a stranger; and it seemed
wholly natural to be walking with him up the street, to hear him
saying,--not with perfunctory politeness but in a tone that was itself
an invitation,--"With pleasure, sir, we'll go together. And let us trust
that the doctor will be at home."

Nor did Hodder stop to wonder, then, why Mr. Bentley should have sought
in his conversation to dissipate something of the hideous blackness of
a tragedy which must have moved him profoundly. How fortunate, he
declared, that they should have arrived before it was too late! For it
was plain to be seen that these Garvins were good people who had been
broken by adversity.... The boy had struck him particularly--a lovable,
merry little fellow whose clothes, Mr. Bentley observed, were always
neatly mended, betokening a mother with self-respect and character. He
even spoke of Garvin: adversity, worry, the heat, constant brooding over
a happier past and an uncertain future--was it surprising that the poor
man's mind had become unhinged? They must make some plan for Garvin,
said Mr. Bentley, get the man and his wife into the country for a while
amongst kindly people. This might no doubt be arranged....

"Here we are, sir."

The familiar smell of drugs, the sound of the trickling water in the
soda fountain roused Hodder to reality, to action, and he hurried into
the telephone booth, fumbled in the dog-eared book, got Dr. Jarvis's
number and called it. An eternity seemed to elapse before he had a
reply, heard his coin jangling in the bog, recognized the voice of the
great doctor's secretary. Yes, the doctor