ned in the darkness; Ashton
got on his nerves; he rather wished he had not come to see him off.

"Oh, but you have--whether you like me to say so or not," the other
man went on obstinately. "And--and there's one last thing I'm going to
ask you before I go...."

He waited, but Micky did not speak.

The taxi was turning into the station yard now, moving slowly because
of the congested traffic.

"If you could give Lallie some money," Ashton went on with a rush.
"I'd send her some, but I've only just got enough to get out of the
way with. I'll pay you back as soon as the mater condescends to send
me another cheque...."

Micky's face felt hot.

"Hasn't she--hasn't she got any, then?" he asked with an effort.

"No--at least I promised her some when I saw her this morning.
She--she's left Eldred's. You see"--he drew a hard breath--"you see, I
hoped we'd be able to get married, and so--well, there was no sense in
her staying on there. She was worked to death, poor kid."

He glanced at Micky, but could not see his face.

"You understand, don't you?" he said, encouraged by his silence. "She
owes them a bit at the boarding-house where she is living. I promised
to wipe it off for her, but the mater cutting up rough altered
everything, and so ... if you could give her a little----"

"I'll see to it," said Micky. He opened the door of the taxi and got
out before it was at a standstill. He took off his hat and let the
cold air play on his hot forehead. He could hardly trust himself to
speak.

He was thankful when Ashton went off to see to his luggage. He walked
into the station and found himself aimlessly staring at a notice
board. He could not remember when he had felt so furiously angry.

Had Ashton changed? he was asking himself in bewilderment. Or was it
merely that he had never seen the man he really was until to-night?

He tried to remember what Ashton had told him about Esther Shepstone
in the past. That she had been at Eldred's he knew, and that Eldred's
was a place where women bought silk petticoats and things he also
knew. He had heard Marie Deland and her friends talking about it lots
of times. Marie had once invited him to accompany her there when they
had been out together, but he had refused and had waited outside for
her. Now he came to think of it, that was about all Ashton had ever
told him of Esther Shepstone.

He knew that Ashton had been seen about with her a great deal; knew
that he had had to st