k. If he is in, go up to his room and present my compliments, and say
we are waiting dinner for him."

Todd's face lengthened, but he missed no word of his master's
instructions. Apart from these his mind was occupied with the number of
minutes it would take him to run all the way to Guy's Hotel, mount the
steps, deliver his message, and race back again. Malachi, who was nearly
twice his age, and who had had twice his experience, might be all right
until he reached that old Burgundy, but "dere warn't nobody could handle
dem corks but Todd; Malachi'd bust 'em sho' and spile 'em 'fo' he could
git back."

"'Spose dere ain't no gemman and no letter, den what?" he asked as a
last resort.

"Then come straight home."

"Yes, sah," and he backed regretfully from the room and closed the door
behind him.

St. George turned to Horn again: "Very good idea, Richard--wonder I
hadn't thought of it before. I should probably had I not expected
him every minute. And he was so glad to come. He told me he had never
forgotten the dinner at Kennedy's some years ago, and when he heard you
would be here as well, his whole face lighted up. I was also greatly
struck with the improvement in his appearance, he seemed more a man of
the world than when I first knew him--carried himself better and was
more carefully dressed. This morning when I went in he--"

The door opened silently, and Todd, trembling all over, laid his hand on
his master's shoulder, cutting short his dissertation.

"Marse George, please sah, can I speak to you a minute?" The boy looked
as if he had just seen a ghost.

"Speak to me! Why haven't you taken my message, Todd?"

"Yes, sah--dat is--can't ye step in de hall a minute, Marse
George--now--right away?"

"The hall!--what for?--is there anything the matter?"

St. George pushed back his chair and followed Todd from the room:
something had gone wrong--something demanding instant attention or Todd
wouldn't be scared out of his wits. Those nearest him, who had overheard
Todd's whispered words, halted in their talk in the hope of getting some
clew to the situation; others, further away, kept on, unconscious that
anything unusual had taken place.

Several minutes passed.

Again the door swung wide, and a man deathly pale, erect, faultlessly
dressed in a full suit of black, the coat buttoned close to his chin,
his cavernous eyes burning like coals of fire, entered on St. George's
arm and advanced toward the group.