_ Cuyaba?" she asked humbly.

"Cuyaba," he replied, rolling his tongue with considerable relish round
his unconscious mispronunciation of the name, "is a town almost on the
western or Bolivian border of Brazil. It is of moderate size, is
situated on the banks of the river Cuyaba, and is considerably connected
with the famous Brazilian Diamond Fields."

"And does the writer of this letter live there?"

"I cannot say. He writes from there--that is enough for us."

"And he orders dinner for four--here, in a private room overlooking the
river, three months ahead--punctually at eight o'clock, gives you a list
of the things he wants, and even arranges the decoration of the table.
Says he has never seen either of his three friends before; that one of
them hails from (here she consulted the letter again) Hang-chow, another
from Bloemfontein, while the third resides, at present, in England. Each
one is to present an ordinary visiting card with a red dot on it to the
porter in the hall, and to be shown to the room at once. I don't
understand it at all."

The manager paused for a moment, and then said deliberately,--"Hang-chow
is in China, Bloemfontein is in South Africa."

"What a wonderful man you are, to be sure, Mr. McPherson! I never can
_think_ how you manage to carry so much in your head."

There spoke the true woman. And it was a move in the right direction,
for the manager was susceptible to her gentle influence, as she had
occasion to know.

At this juncture the head waiter appeared upon the scene, and took up a
position just inside the doorway, as if he were afraid of injuring the
carpet by coming farther.

"Is No. 22 ready, Williams?"

"Quite ready, sir. The wine is on the ice, and cook tells me he'll be
ready to dish punctual to the moment."

"The letter says, 'no electric light; candles with red shades.' Have you
put on those shades I got this morning?"

"Just seen it done this very minute, sir."

"And let me see, there was one other thing." He took the letter from the
chief bookkeeper's hand and glanced at it. "Ah, yes, a porcelain saucer,
and a small jug of new milk upon the mantelpiece. An extraordinary
request, but has it been attended to?"

"I put it there myself, sir."

"Who wait?"

"Jones, Edmunds, Brooks, and Tomkins."

"Very good. Then I think that will do. Stay! You had better tell the
hall porter to look out for three gentlemen presenting plain visiting
cards with a little red spot on