ally, but she looked as if she did not believe
him. Primmie's suspicions of dropsy, or some equally distressing
ailment, revived. She watched him for signs of relapse.

The letter requested an immediate reply. That reply was neither written
nor sent. Mr. Bangs could not think of a reply which would embrace the
two elements, safety and sanity. It was impossible to tell the truth
and dangerous to attempt to tell anything else. So he did not answer the
Thomas letter.

In a week he received a second one, asking if he had gotten the first.
This simply HAD to be acknowledged, so he did so. He wrote that his
friend was no longer interested in the stock concerning which he had
inquired. Also he returned the check for the balance of the Tinplate
payment--it had been lying in his bureau drawer ever since he brought
it from Boston--but he made no mention of what he had done with the
eighty-two hundred dollars in cash nor the five thousand which he had
previously drawn. He did not refer to these sums at all. He requested
that the check for the Tinplate balance be deposited to his account and
sent it in the envelope with his letter to Thomas. Then he fearfully
awaited the next blow.

It came, and in a new fashion, about a week later. He and Martha were in
the sitting room after supper when the telephone bell rang.

"Pardon me, Miss Martha," said Galusha, "but wasn't that our--I should
say your ring?"

Martha smiled. "I didn't notice," she said. "You're always thinkin' you
hear our ring, Mr. Bangs. The last time you heard it and called me to
the 'phone, it turned out to be Emulous Dodd, the undertaker. He said,
'I don't want you.' I told him I was thankful for that."

Her lodger shook his head. "I'm very sorry," he said. "These telephone
calls down here--'Two long and three short' and--ah--the like--they
do confuse me, I admit. I really can't seem to get accustomed to them.
Now... Oh, but that IS your ring, isn't it, Miss Martha?"

It was. Martha took down the receiver.

"Yes... yes," she said. "Yes, this is Phipps.... Oh, all right.... The
girl says it's a long-distance call," she added, turning to Galusha.
"Who can be callin' ME from long distance?... Yes... yes.... This is
Miss Phipps speakin' now.... Who?... Oh, Mr. Bangs? Yes, he's right
here. It's for you, Mr. Bangs."

Galusha took the receiver from her hand. "Ah--hello!" he hailed. The
wire buzzed and sang. Then, in his ear and with surprising clearness and
nearness