bed.

"You're still obstinate," said the lady, smiling.

"Meaning----?" He paused, shovel in hand.

"That you won't give any account of yourself."

"Why should I?" asked Tony innocently. "I am the slave of a perfectly
charming despot"--he bowed again with grace, despite his costume and the
mud stains. "I am well housed and fed. I have nothing special to do. I
am regaining the rude health of youth----"

"But you have to _work_!" Lionel reminded him with a laugh. "And judging
from your hands I don't think you've done much of that in your life."

Tony waved one of the despised hands.

"It is a popular error to speak of manual laborers as 'the working
classes.' There is such a thing as brain-work--no! I don't press the
point. As a matter of fact, I am rather attracted by this kind of
work--for a change. Perhaps, when I regain my freedom, I shall then take
up some sort of work as a hobby."

"You can be free as soon as you like," said Miss Arkwright carelessly.

"Ah! but at a price! You want the secret of my life. I shall only tell
you the tragic story when you tell me something of yours. Meanwhile I am
quite content to labor here on parole. It is true that I am forbidden
the village--I am not even near enough the wall to pass the time of day
(is that the local phrase?) with the outside world. But until I know
more I am not anxious to leave the most delightful tyrant I have ever
met."

"You ought to think yourself lucky," said Lionel, "that you're not
cooling your heels in jail."

"By all accounts," said Tony blandly, "I might retort with a _tu
quoque_."

"What do you mean?" asked Lionel, puzzled. "What do you know of me?"

Tony shrugged.

"That is part of the feuilleton," he said. "As soon as you like, we
shall exchange stories. Meanwhile, permit the horny-handed aristocrat to
pass along."

He went off again, whistling, leaving his questioners unsatisfied. In
spite of the mystery of his presence, in spite of the recent struggle,
both Lionel and his hostess felt an instinctive liking for Tony. It had
been Miss Arkwright's idea to set him to work. After the capture Lionel
suggested a medieval treatment of bread-and-water in a locked chamber.
Police proceedings were naturally out of the question. But Miss
Arkwright was original in her methods, and after an interview with the
unabashed intruder, had given him a choice of penalties. Either he might
elect for the modern equivalent of the deepest dungeon beneath