ise--the future clamors for you--your drawings
enchant me."

Ewing reflected that his drawings had not been exposed, but the
intention was kind, and he was grateful for that. Teevan drank more
brandy with a dainty relish, and begged to hear of his young friend's
adventures in the far hills.

Ewing expanded in the warmth of this kindly concern. He told, little by
little, under adroit prompting, what he had to tell. Teevan displayed a
gratifying interest, especially in what he recounted of his mother's
death. But at intervals during this recital the young man became
conscious, with astonishment, that there was an inexplicable look on the
other's face, a look which he suddenly discovered to be an unbelievable
veiled pleasure.

He fell back with a quick, blind repulsion, and the two stared at each
other, the elder man dissolving with difficulty a monstrous smile. He
appeared to recover himself with an effort, finding the lines about his
mouth refractory, but his embarrassment was so poignant that Ewing felt
sorry for him.

"You _must_ forgive me, old fellow! These damned treacherous nerves of
mine! I shall see that specialist chap of mine directly in the morning.
I'm so weak that the sadness of that poor lady's death set me off into
something like hysteria."

It was one o'clock when they parted, and then only at a hint that the
place would close its old-fashioned doors for the night. Ewing rejoiced
to feel that he had made a desirable friend. He liked the little man
well. Teevan had said at the last. "You should move on to Paris, my boy.
You'll need the touch they give only in that blessed rendezvous of the
masters." Ewing went to his room realizing that the world of his dreams
did actually abound in adventure. His first day had been memorable.

Teevan walked through Ninth Street to his own home, a few doors beyond
the Bartell house. It was a place of much the same old-fashioned lines,
that had withstood the north-setting current.

He let himself in and went to the dining room at the rear. Here he
lighted a gas jet, took a decanter from the sideboard, and brought a
glass and a bottle of soda from the butler's pantry. He sipped the drink
and lighted a cigarette. His musings, as first reflected in his face,
were agreeable. His mouth twitched pleasantly, his eyes glistened. At
intervals he chuckled and muttered. With an increase of brandy in the
glass he became more serious.

When Alden Teevan entered an hour later h