nny smile.

"I like that idea. It's reassuring. If we can have no secrets, it
means that we can't, after all, go so far afield as we might," he
hesitated, "yes, as we might."

Eastman looked at him sourly. "Cavenaugh, when you've practised law
in New York for twelve years, you find that people can't go far in
any direction, except--" He thrust his forefinger sharply at the
floor. "Even in that direction, few people can do anything out of
the ordinary. Our range is limited. Skip a few baths, and we become
personally objectionable. The slightest carelessness can rot a man's
integrity or give him ptomaine poisoning. We keep up only by
incessant cleansing operations, of mind and body. What we call
character, is held together by all sorts of tacks and strings and
glue."

Cavenaugh looked startled. "Come now, it's not so bad as that, is
it? I've always thought that a serious man, like you, must know a
lot of Launcelots." When Eastman only laughed, the younger man
squirmed about in his chair. He spoke again hastily, as if he were
embarrassed. "Your military friend may have had personal
experiences, however, that his friends couldn't possibly get a line
on. He may accidentally have come to a place where he saw himself in
too unpleasant a light. I believe people can be chilled by a draft
from outside, somewhere."

"Outside?" Eastman echoed. "Ah, you mean the far outside! Ghosts,
delusions, eh?"

Cavenaugh winced. "That's putting it strong. Why not say tips from
the outside? Delusions belong to a diseased mind, don't they? There
are some of us who have no minds to speak of, who yet have had
experiences. I've had a little something in that line myself and I
don't look it, do I?"

Eastman looked at the bland countenance turned toward him. "Not
exactly. What's your delusion?"

"It's not a delusion. It's a haunt."

The lawyer chuckled. "Soul of a lost Casino girl?"

"No; an old gentleman. A most unattractive old gentleman, who
follows me about."

"Does he want money?"

Cavenaugh sat up straight. "No. I wish to God he wanted
anything--but the pleasure of my society! I'd let him clean me out
to be rid of him. He's a real article. You saw him yourself that
night when you came to my rooms to borrow a dictionary, and he went
down the fire-escape. You saw him down in the court."

"Well, I saw somebody down in the court, but I'm too cautious to
take it for granted that I saw what you saw. Why, anyhow, should I
see your ha