r call very much. Come and see me again when you return from England."

Mr. Dane lingered for a moment upon the threshold, hat in hand, a
somewhat ominous figure. There was no attempt at a handshake between the
two men. The detective was imperturbable. Philip, listening to
Elizabeth's voice, had shown his first sign of impatience.

"I shall surely do that, Mr. Ware!" the other promised, as he passed out.

The door closed. Philip stood for a moment in the empty room, listening
to the man's retreating footsteps. Then he turned slowly around. His
cheeks were blanched, his eyes were glazed with reminiscent horror. He
looked through the wall of the room--a long way back.

"We shall find Mr. Ware in here, I expect." He could hear the voices of
his approaching guests.

He ground his heel into the carpet and swung around. He anticipated
Louis, threw open the curtain, and stood there waiting to welcome his
guests, a smile upon his lips, his hands outstretched towards Elizabeth.

CHAPTER II

Elizabeth's face was glowing with joy. For the first time Philip realised
that she, too, had had her anxieties.

"You dear, dear man!" she exclaimed. "To think what you have missed! It
would have been the evening of your life. It's a success, do you hear?--a
great success! It was wonderful!"

He seemed, almost to himself, to be playing a part, he was so calm yet so
gracefully happy.

"I am glad for both our sakes," he said.

She indicated the others with a little wave of the hand.

"I don't think you know a soul, do you?" she asked. "They none of them
quite believe in your existence down at the theatre. This is my leading
man, Noel Bridges. You should have seen how splendid he was as
Carriston."

Mr. Noel Bridges, with a deprecating smile towards Elizabeth, held out
his hand. He was tall and of rather a rugged type for the New York stage.
Like the rest of the little party, his eyes were full of curiosity as he
shook hands with Philip.

"So you are something human, after all," he remarked. "We began to think
you lived underground and only put your head up every now and then for a
little air. I am glad to meet you, Mr. Ware. I enjoy acting in your play
very much indeed, and I hope it's only the first of many."

"You are very kind," Philip murmured cordially.

Elizabeth glanced around the little group.

"Dear me, I am forgetting my manners," she declared. "I ought to have
presented you to Sara Denison first. Sara is reall