emed to me most--most----"

"Most impertinent of her?" suggested Norman.

"Precisely. _Most_ impertinent."

"Rather say, ignorant and small. My dear Tetlow, let me tell you
something. Anybody, however insignificant, can be loved. To be loved
means nothing, except possibly a hallucination in the brain of the
lover. But to _love_--that's another matter. Only a great soul is capable
of a great love."

"That is true," murmured Tetlow sentimentally, preening in a quiet,
gentle way.

Said Norman sententiously: "_You_ stopped loving. It was _I_ that kept
on."

Tetlow looked uncomfortable. "Yes--yes," he said. "But we were talking
of her--of her not appreciating the love she got. And I was about to
say--" Earnestly--"Fred, she's not to be blamed for her folly! She's
very, very young--and has all the weaknesses and vanities of youth----"

"Here we are," interrupted Norman.

The hansom had stopped in Forty-second Street before the deserted but
still brilliantly lighted entrances to the great hotel. Norman sprang
out so lightly and surely that Tetlow wondered how it was possible for
this to be the man who had been racketing and roistering day after day,
night after night for nearly a week. He helped the heavy and awkward
Tetlow to descend, said:

"You'll have to pay, Bill. I've got less than a dollar left. And I
touched Gaskill for a hundred and fifty to-night. You can imagine how
drunk he was, to let me have it. How they've been shying off from _me_
these last few months!"

"And you want _Galloway_ to come to _you_," thrust Tetlow, as he counted
out the money.

"Don't go back and chew on that," laughed Norman. "It's settled." He
took the money, gave it to the driver. "Thanks," he said to Tetlow.
"I'll pay you to-morrow--that is, later to-day--when you send me another
check."

"Why should you pay for my cab?" rejoined Tetlow.

"Because it's easier for me to make money than it is for you," replied
Norman. "If you were in my position--the position I've been in for
months--would anybody on earth give you three thousand dollars a month?"

Tetlow looked sour. His good nature was rubbing thin in spots.

"Don't lose your temper," laughed Norman. "I'm pounding away at you
about my superiority, partly because I've been drinking, but chiefly for
your own good--so that you'll realize I'm right and not mess things with
Galloway."

They went up to Norman's suite. Norman tried to unlock the door, found
it already unlocked.