dway, occasionally pausing to gaze into a shop
window, to rest on a seat in a park, to listen to a street musician, or
to watch some passing incident in the great panorama which is ever
unrolling itself in that brilliant and fascinating avenue.

Suddenly Mantel was startled by an abrupt change in the manner of his
companion, who paused and stood as if rooted to the pavement, while his
great blue eyes opened beyond their natural width with a fixed stare.

Following the direction of their gaze, Mantel saw that they were fixed
on a blind beggar who sat on a stool at the edge of the sidewalk, silent
and motionless like an old snag on the bank of a river--the perpetual
stream of human life forever flowing by. His head was bare; in his
outstretched hand he held a tin cup which jingled now and then as some
compassionate traveler dropped him a coin; by his side, looking up
occasionally into his unresponsive eyes, was a little terrier, his
solitary companion and guide in a world of perpetual night.

The face of the man was a remarkable one, judged by almost any standard.
It was large in size, strong in outline, and although he was a beggar,
it wore an expression of power, of independence and resolution like that
of another Belisarius. But the feature which first arrested and longest
held attention, was an enormous mustache. It could not have been less
than fourteen inches from tip to tip, was carefully trimmed and trained,
and although the man himself was still comparatively young, was white as
snow. Occasionally he set his cup on his knee and with both hands
twisted the ends into heavy ropes.

It was a striking face and exacted from every observer more than a
passing look; but remarkable as it was, Mantel could not discover any
reason for the strained and terrible interest of his companion, who
stood staring so long and in such a noticeable way, that he was in
danger of himself attracting the attention of the curious crowd.

Seeing this, Mantel took him by the arm. "What is the matter?" he asked.

David started. "My God," he cried, drawing his hand over his eyes like a
man awakening from a dream; "it is he!"

"It is who? Are you mad! Come away! People are observing you. If there
is anything wrong, we must move or get into trouble."

"Let me alone!" David replied, shaking off his hand. "I would rather die
than lose sight of that man."

"Then come into this doorway where you can watch him unobserved, for you
are making a