ay going into a house
across the street from my own."

"The house with the Little Red Chimney?" asked the Candy Man
indiscreetly, forgetting himself for the moment.

A smile slowly dawned on the face of the sad man, but quickly faded, as
a flock of naughty pigeons tore by, screaming, "Lizer, Lizer, look out
for the Miser!" If he had been about to make a comment, he thought
better of it, and turned away.

Having identified the Little Red Chimney as the property of the Girl
of All Others, the Candy Man now made a new discovery. He had a room
in one of the old residences of the neighbourhood, so many of which in
these days were being given over to boarding and lodging. Its windows
overlooked a back yard, in which grew a great ash, and he had been
interested to observe how long after other trees were bare this one kept
its foliage. He found it one morning, however, giving up its leaves by
the wholesale, under the touch of a sharp frost; and, wonder of wonders!
through its bared branches that magical chimney came into view, with a
corner of grey roof.

Not far away rose the big smoke stack belonging to the apartment houses,
impressive in its loftiness, but to his fancy the Little Red Chimney
held its own with dignity, standing for something unattainable by great
smoke stacks, however important.

The Candy Man, it will be seen, did not attempt to reconcile conflicting
evidence. He took what suited him and ignored the rest. Was Miss Bentley
the niece of Mrs. Gerrard Pennington? She was also the niece of Uncle
Bob. Did she ride in haughty limousines? She also rode in street cars.
Was she wined and dined by the rich? She also ate muffins and cherry
preserves, and brushed up the hearth of the Little Red Chimney.

CHAPTER FIVE

_In which the double life led by the heroine is explained, and
Augustus McAllister proves an alibi._

"Yes," said Miss Bentley, "I liked him. He turned out to be altogether
different from my first impressions. That afternoon at the Country
Club he seemed rather stiff--nice, assured manners, of course, but
unresponsive. But then the way in which we bounced in upon each other
was enough to break any amount of ice." She laughed at the recollection,
clasping her hands behind her head.

Instead of the little grey hat jammed down anyhow, she wore this morning
the most bewitching and frivolous of boudoir caps upon her bright head,
and a shimmery, lacy empire something, that clung caressingly abo