ng the fence!" she exclaimed, passing the toast.

"And going about it as though he knew what he was doing," added Mac.

I was glad of this discovery of theirs. It would enable me to introduce
my own contribution modestly, yet with effect.

"I wonder," I said, "if he would approve of that tree being cut down."
Mac stirred in his chair. The daily spectacle of those two little boys
hacking slivers from the prostrate tree had been very trying to him.

"I judge not," he said with energy. "A man who----"

"I wish we knew the exact relations between them," I interrupted. "I
mean, whether they quarrel at all."

"Of course they do," said Bill without thinking. "All married people
do--at times."

Her husband looked down his nose into his egg. I smiled.

"True, since you say it," I replied, "but you must remember that just as
no two people look exactly alike, so no two couples live on exactly the
same terms. Just as----"

"Oh, what do you know about it?" said Bill. "Trust a bachelor to lay
down the law."

"Those who look on--you know," I protested.

"That isn't true in regard to marriage," she retorted, "because unless
you are married you _don't_ look on at all, see?"

I saw.

"I am going to speak to him after breakfast," announced Mac. "He seems a
very decent sort of chap. I wonder what he is at sea."

"I had quite a little chat with him last night," I began.

"You did!" they exclaimed. I nodded, enjoying their surprise.

"Yes," I said. "I found you were gone to bed when I finished, and so I
went out on the flags for a short walk. He was out there doing the same
thing."

"Go on!" said Bill.

"He didn't say anything about mending the fence," I remarked.

"Oh goodness! Tell us what he _did_ say," she implored.

"Well, not much. He comes from Hertfordshire."

"He's English then! I thought so," said Mac, relieved.

"He said No," I answered. "That was one of the most curious remarks he
made. He said he was an alien."

"Did he, by Jove! So he is; but it's a very strange thing to say," said
Mac. Bill regarded me with interest.

"He's going to keep us guessing," she remarked, dolefully.

"No," I said, taking another piece of toast. "He accepted my invitation
to tea this afternoon, and he is going to tell us about himself."

After all I had overlooked my most telling item. I might have known that
the fact of his visit would prove more thrilling than any gossip coming
secondhand from me. They wished to speak