sation. I don't know, even now, whether you were right or wrong. I
only know that since you went away I have felt something of the unrest
with which you threatened me. I want to settle the matter one way or the
other. I want to try, for a little time, what it is like to live in the
crowded places, to be near you, to see, if I may, more of you and your
way of living."

They were silent for several moments.

"I thought you would come," Louise said at last; "and I am glad, but
even in these first few minutes I want to say something to you. If you
wish to succeed in your object, and really understand the people you
meet here and the life they lead, don't be like your brother--too quick
to judge. Do not hug your prejudices too tightly. You will come across
many problems, many situations which will seem strange to you. Do not
make up your mind about anything in a hurry."

"I will remember that," he promised. "You must remember, though, that I
don't expect ever to become a convert. I believe I am a countryman, bred
and born. Still, there are some things that I want to understand, if I
can, and, more than anything else--I want to see you!"

She faced his direct speech this time with more deliberation.

"Tell me exactly why."

"If I could tell you that," he replied simply, "I should be able to
answer for myself the riddle which has kept me awake at night for weeks
and months, which has puzzled me more than anything else in life has
ever done."

"You really have thought of me, then?"

"Didn't you always know that I should?"

"Perhaps," she admitted. "Anyhow, I always felt that we should meet
again, that you would come to London. The problem is," she added,
smiling, "what to do with you now you are here."

"I haven't come to be a nuisance," he assured her. "I just want a little
help from you."

She became indiscreet. She looked at him with a little smile at the
corners of her lips.

"Nothing else?" she asked, almost under her breath.

"At the end of it all, yes," he answered simply. "I want to understand
because it is your world. I want to feel myself nearer to you. I want--"

She gripped at his arm suddenly. She knew well enough that she had
deliberately provoked his words, but there was a look in her face almost
of fear.

"Don't let us be too serious all at once," she begged quickly. "If you
have one fault, my dear big friend from the country," she went on, with
a swiftly assumed gaiety, "it is that you are to