rgive me, Loosh, I hope."

Galusha bowed, but he did not smile. A little of the color came back to
his cheeks.

"Ah--ah--Yes, certainly," he stammered. "Certainly, quite so."

He sat down in his chair again, but he did not look in Miss Phipps'
direction. He seemed to know that she was regarding him with a fixed and
startled intentness.

"Five thousand dollars!" she said, in a low tone. Neither of the men
appeared to hear her. Cabot, too, sat down. And it was he who, plainly
seeking for a subject to relieve the tension, spoke next.

"I was telling my cousin," he said, addressing Martha, "that I came down
here to attend to a little matter of business. The business wasn't my
own exactly, but it was a commission from a friend and client of mine
and he left it in my charge. He and I supposed we had an agent here in
your town, Miss Phipps, who was attending to it for us, but of late he
hasn't been very successful. I received a letter from Williams--from my
friend; he is in the South--asking me to see if I couldn't hurry matters
up a bit. So I motored down. But this agent of ours was not in. Probably
you know him. His name is Pulcifer."

Martha and Galusha started simultaneously.

"Pulcifer?" queried Martha. "Raish Pulcifer, do you mean?"

"It doesn't seem to me that his Christian name is--What did you say,
Miss Phipps?"

"I said 'Raish'; that's what every one down here calls the man I mean.
His real name, of course, is Horatio."

"Horatio? That sounds more like it. I didn't hire him--Williams did
that--and I have never met him, although he and Thomas, my secretary,
have had some correspondence. Wait a moment, I have his name here."

He took from his pocket a memorandum book and turned over the leaves.

"Yes," he said, "that's it. Horatio Pulcifer. Here is his card. 'Horatio
Pulcifer, Dealer in Real Estate of All Kinds; Cranberry Bog Property
Bought and Sold; Mortgages Arranged For; Fire, Life and Accident
Insurance; Money Loaned; Claims Adjusted; Real or Household Goods
Auctioned Off or Sold Private; etc., etc.' Humph! Comprehensive person,
isn't he? Is this the fellow you know, Miss Phipps?"

Martha nodded. "Yes," she said, "I know him."

Cabot glanced at her. "I see," he observed. "Well, what sort of a
character is he? Would you trust him?"

She hesitated. "Why--why," she replied, "I suppose I should, if--if--"

"If he was not too far away, or around the corner, or anything like
that? I understand."

Ma