hing
had escaped his own lips. Still, he was uneasy. Keene might have fallen
short of prudence, with the result that Daniel Dabbs might be in a
position to trace this calumny to him, Mutimer. It would not be pleasant
if the affair, thus represented, came to the ears of his friends,
particularly of Mr. Westlake.

He had just finished his breakfast, and was glancing over the newspaper
in a dull and irritable mood, when Keene himself arrived. Mutimer
expected him. Alice quitted the dining-room when he was announced, and
'Arry, who at the same moment came in for breakfast, was bidden go about
his business, and be ready to leave the house in half-an-hour.

'What does this mean?' Richard asked abruptly, handing the letter to his
visitor.

Keene perused the crabbed writing, and uttered sundry 'Ah's' and
'Hum's.'

'Do you know anything about it?' Mutimer continued, in a tone between
mere annoyance and serious indignation.

'I think I had better tell you what took place last night,' said the
journalist, with side glances. He had never altogether thrown off the
deferential manner when conversing with his patron, and at present
he emphasised it. 'Those fellows carry party feeling too far; the
proceedings were scandalous. It really was enough to make one feel that
one mustn't be too scrupulous in trying to stop their mouths. If I'm
not mistaken, an action for defamation of character would lie against
half-a-dozen of them.'

Mutimer was unfortunately deficient in sense of humour. He continued to
scowl, and merely said: 'Go on; what happened?'

Mr. Keene allowed the evening's proceedings to lose nothing in his
narration. He was successful in exciting his hearer to wrath, but, to
his consternation, it was forthwith turned against himself.

'And you tried to make things better by going about telling what several
of them would know perfectly well to be lies?' exclaimed Mutimer,
savagely. 'Who the devil gave you authority to do so?'

'My dear sir,' protested the journalist, 'you have quite mistaken me.
I did not mean to admit that I had told lies. How could I for a moment
suppose that a man of your character would sanction that kind of thing?
Pooh, I hope I know you better! No, no; I merely in the course of
conversation ventured to hint that, as you yourself had explained to
me, there were reasons quite other than the vulgar mind would conceive
for--for the course you had pursued. To my own apprehension such reasons
are abund