t.

"I am afraid," he said, "that I am not a very presentable-looking
object, but I am glad to assure you that I am not a poor man. I am able
to pay your charges and to still feel that the obligation is very much
on my side."

The doctor summoned up his courage.

"We will say a guinea, then," he remarked with studied indifference.

"You must allow me to make it a little more than that," the patient
answered. "Your treatment was worth it. I feel perfectly recovered
already. Good night, sir!"

The doctor's eyes sparkled as he glanced at the gold which his visitor
had laid upon the table.

"You are very good, I'm sure," he murmured. "I hope you will have a
comfortable journey. With a nerve like yours, you'll be all right in a
day or so."

He let his patient out and watched him depart with some curiosity,
watched until the great motor-car had swung round the corner of the
street and started on its journey to London.

"No bicycle there," he remarked to himself, as he closed the door. "I
wonder what they did with it."

CHAPTER IV. MISS PENELOPE MORSE

It was already a little past the customary luncheon hour at the Carlton,
and the restaurant was well filled. The orchestra had played their first
selection, and the stream of incoming guests had begun to slacken. A
young lady who had been sitting in the palm court for at least half an
hour rose to her feet, and, glancing casually at her watch, made her way
into the hotel. She entered the office and addressed the chief reception
clerk.

"Can you tell me," she asked, "if Mr. Hamilton Fynes is staying here? He
should have arrived by the Lusitania last night or early this morning."

It is not the business of a hotel reception clerk to appear surprised
at anything. Nevertheless the man looked at her, for a moment, with a
curious expression in his eyes.

"Mr. Hamilton Fynes!" he repeated. "Did you say that you were expecting
him by the Lusitania, madam?"

"Yes!" the young lady answered. "He asked me to lunch with him here
today. Can you tell me whether he has arrived yet? If he is in his room,
I should be glad if you would send up to him."

There were several people in the office who were in a position to
overhear their conversation. With a word of apology, the man came round
from his place behind the mahogany counter. He stood by the side of the
young lady, and he seemed to be suffering from some embarrassment.

"Will you pardon my asking, madam, if you have