at Milt; and a
large, soft, suave, insulting young man demanded, "Yes, sir?"

"Mr. G-g-geoffrey Saxton?" ventured Milt.

"Not in, sir." The "sir" sounded like "And you know it." The flaming
guardian retired behind a narrow section of a bookkeeper's desk and
ignored him.

"I'm to meet him for lunch," Milt forlornly persisted.

The young man looked up, hurt and annoyed at finding that the person was
still to be dealt with.

"If you will wait in there?" he groaned.

Milt sat in there, which was a small blue tapestry room with hard chairs
intended to discourage bill-collectors. He turned his hat round and
round and round, till he saw Jeff Saxton, slim and straight and hard as
the stick hooked over his arm, sailing into the hall. He plunged out
after him, took refuge with him from the still unconvinced inspection of
the hall-man. For twenty seconds, he loved Jeff Saxton.

And Jeff seemed to adore him in turn. He solicitously led Milt to the
hat-checking counter. He showed Milt the lounge and the billiard room,
through which Milt crept with erect shoulders and easy eyes and a heart
simply paralyzed with fear that one of these grizzled clubmen with
clipped mustaches would look at him. He coaxed Milt into a grill that
was a cross between the Chinese throne-room and a Viennese Weinstube,
and he implored his friend Milt to do him the favor of trying the "very
fair" English mutton chops and potatoes _au gratin_.

"I did want to see you again before we go East, Daggett," he said
pleasantly.

"Th-thanks. When do you go?"

"I'm trying to get Miss Boltwood to start soon now. The season is
opening in the East. She does like your fine sturdy West, as I do, but
still, when we think of the exciting new shows opening, and the dances,
and the touch with the great world---- Oh, it does make one eager to get
back."

"That's so," risked Milt.

"We, uh---- Daggett---- In fact, I'm going to call you Milt, as Claire
does. You don't know what a pleasure it has been to have encountered
you. There's a fine keen courage about you Western chaps that makes a
cautious old fogy like me envious. I shall remember meeting you with a
great deal of pleasure."

"Th-thanks. Been pleasure meet you."

"And I know Claire will, too."

Milt felt that he was being dealt with foully. He wanted to object to
Saxton's acting as agent for Claire as incompetent, irrelevant,
immaterial, and no foundation laid. But he could not see just where he
was bein