a youngster of eight years. Were he
less competent, I might have delayed my departure long enough to pass
him literally from my supervision to yours. However, James is quite
capable of taking care of himself; this fact you will appreciate fully
long before you and I meet face-to-face.

In the meantime, remember that our letters and the other references
acquaint us with one another far better than a few short hours of
personal contact.

Sincerely,
Charles Maxwell

"Well!" said Mrs. Bagley. "I don't know what to say."

Jimmy smiled. "You don't have to say anything," he said.

Mrs. Bagley looked at the youngster. "I don't think I like your Mr.
Maxwell," she said.

"Why not?"

"He's practically shanghaied me here. He knows very well that I couldn't
possibly leave you here all alone, no matter how I disliked the
situation. He's practically forced me to stay."

James suppressed a smile. He said, "Mrs. Bagley, the way the trains run
in and out of Shipmont, you're stuck for an overnight stay in any case."

"You don't seem to be perturbed."

"I'm not," he said.

Mrs. Bagley looked at James carefully. His size; his physique was
precisely that of the eight-year-old boy. There was nothing malformed nor
out-of-proportion; yet he spoke with an adult air of confidence.

"I am," she admitted.

"Perturbed? You needn't be," he said. "You've got to remember that
writers are an odd lot. They don't conform. They don't punch time-clocks.
They boast of having written a novel in three weeks but they don't
mention the fact that they sat around drinking beer for six months
plotting it."

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning that Maxwell sees nothing wrong in attending to his own affairs
and expecting you to attend to yours."

"But what shall I do?"

James smiled. "First, take a look around the house and satisfy yourself.
You'll find the third floor shut off; the rooms up there are Maxwell's,
and no one goes in but him. My bedroom is the big one in the front of the
second floor. Pick yourself a room or a suite of rooms or move in all
over the rest of the house. Build yourself a cup of tea and relax. Do as
he says: Act as if you'd arrived before he took off, that you'd met and
agreed verbally to do what you've already agreed to do by letter. Look at
it from his point of view."

"What is his point of view?"

"He's a writer. He rented this house by mail. He banks by mail and shops
by mail and makes his living by wr