The negro rose and took up his hat.

"This is very nice," he growled, "but I want to tell you that you are
not through with me yet."

Mr. Weil rose also.

"I trust," he said, "that you are not going to be impolite. I certainly
would not be guilty of discourtesy to you. But let me assure you of one
thing: If you ever, hereafter, annoy in the slightest degree my friend,
Mr. Fern, or any member of his family, you will wish heartily that you
had never been born. We can spare you now, Mr. Hannibal."

With the last words, Archie waved his hand toward the door, and without
further reply than a glare from his now blood-shot eyes, the African
strode from the apartment.

"I want you to take a ride in the Park with me, for an hour or so, and
then we will return here for dinner," said Mr. Weil to Mr. Boggs.

He did this to allow Mr. Fern to leave the house without Boggs' knowing
he was there, and also to avoid a meeting that he felt would be too full
of gratitude to suit his temperament just then.

CHAPTER XXI.

"WE WANT MILLIE TO UNDERSTAND."

Millicent Fern had been so busy on her second novel that she had hardly
noticed the prolonged absence of Shirley Roseleaf from her father's
house. Her first story was selling fairly well and she had received a
goodly number of reviews in which it was alluded to with more or less
favor. Not the least welcome of the things her mail brought was a check
bearing the autograph of Cutt & Slashem, that tangible evidence which
all authors admire that her efforts had not been wholly in vain. She had
put a great deal of hard work into her new novel, and felt that, when
Mr. Roseleaf added his polish to the plot she had woven, it would make a
success far greater than the other.

Millicent thought she understood the young man perfectly. To her mind he
was merely awaiting the moment when she was ready to name the day for
their marriage. To be sure he had not asked her to wed him, but his
actions were not to be misunderstood. She would accept him, for business
reasons, and the romance could come later. Together they would
constitute a strong partnership in fiction. While she was wrapped up in
her writing it was quite as well that he remained at a respectful
distance. Between her second and her third story she would have time to
arrange the ceremony.

When Roseleaf made his next appearance at dinner, in the house at
Midlands, Miss Fern smiled on him pleasantly. She remarked that he