one of the guests at the inn. There are
only three of us in all. He had heard a great deal about you from Miss
Rose. She seems to have been very communicative to him."

"Chums, are they?" cried Lanigan Beam. "Well, bless his soul, I say,
whatever sort of man he is. Now what did they say about me?"

"It's my opinion," answered Lodloe, smiling, "that it is a very unsafe
thing to tell a man what other people say about him."

Lanigan sprang to his feet, and stood, pipe in hand, before the other.
"Now, sir," said he, "I have not heard your name yet--Lodloe; thank you.
Now, Mr. Lodloe, I have before me the greatest chance of my life. It
almost never happens that a man has an opportunity of hearing a
straightforward account of what people say about him. Now if you want to
do the biggest kind of favor to a fellow-being, just tell me what you
heard of me to-night. You are a perfect stranger to me, and you can
speak out plainly about it without having the least feeling one way or
the other."

Lodloe looked at him.

"Here's a chance," he said to himself, "that seldom comes to a man; an
opportunity to tell a man exactly what his friends and neighbors think
about him. It's a rare experience, and I like it. I'll do it."

"Very good," said he, aloud; "if you want to see yourself as others see
you, I'll turn on the lights and act as showman; but remember I have
nothing to do with the painting. I have no prejudices one way or the
other."

"All right," said Lanigan, reseating himself; "let the panorama move."

"About the first thing I was told," said Lodloe, "was that you were a
good-hearted fellow, but the fact that your father was an Irishman had
deprived your character of ballast."

"Umph," said Lanigan; "there are some people who are all ballast. I
don't mind that."

"And then I heard that, although you were a wild and irresponsible
youth, people generally expected that as you grew older you would
gradually accumulate ballast; but instead of that you had steadily gone
downhill from the moment of your birth."

"Now, then," said Lanigan, "I suppose I have no right to ask you, but I
would like very much to know who said that."

"I don't object in the least to telling you," said Lodloe; "it is fitter
that you should know it than that I should know it. That was a quoted
opinion of Miss Calthea Rose."

"Good for you," said Lanigan; "you'd be death to the members of a
scandal-monger society. You would break up the business u