lusion, and the
Strand would wake, and the first omnibus of all the omnibuses would come
along....

Never had simple Nina felt so sad and weary. She was determined to give
up her father. She was bound to tell the manager of her discovery, for
Nina was an honest servant, and she was piqued in her honesty. No one
should know that Lionel Belmont was her father.... She saw before her
the task of forgetting him and forgetting the rich dreams of which he
had been the origin. She was once more a book-keeper with no prospects.

At eight she saw the manager in the managerial room. Mr. Reuben was a
young Jew, aged about thirty-four, with a cold but indestructibly polite
manner. He was a great man, and knew it; he had almost invented the
Majestic.

She told him her news; it was impossible for foolish Nina to conceal her
righteousness and her sense of her importance.

'Whom did you say, Miss Malpas?' asked Mr. Reuben.

'Mr. Lionel Belmont--at least, that's what he calls himself.'

'Calls himself, Miss Malpas?'

'Here's one of the telegrams.'

Mr. Reuben read it, looked at little Nina, and smiled; he never laughed.

'Is it possible, Miss Malpas,' said he, 'that you don't know who Mr.
Belmont and Mr. Pank are?' And then, as she shook her head, he continued
in his impassive, precise way: 'Mr. Belmont is one of the principal
theatrical managers in the United States. Mr. Pank is one of the
principal playwrights in the United States. Mr. Pank's melodrama
'Nebraska' is now being played at the Regency by Mr. Belmont's own
American company. Another of Mr. Belmont's companies starts shortly for
a tour in the provinces with the musical comedy 'The Dolmenico Doll.' I
believe that Mr. Pank and Mr. Belmont are now writing a new melodrama,
and as they have both been travelling, but not together, I expect that
these telegrams relate to that melodrama. Did you suppose that
safe-burglars wire their plans to each other like this?' He waved the
telegram with a gesture of fatigue.

Silly, ruined Nina made no answer.

'Do you ever read the papers--the _Telegraph_ or the _Mail_, Miss
Malpas?'

'N-no, sir.'

'You ought to, then you wouldn't be so ignorant and silly. A hotel-clerk
can't know too much. And, by-the-way, what were you doing in Mr.
Belmont's room last night, when you found these wonderful telegrams?'

'I went there--I went there--to----'

'Don't cry, please, it won't help you. You must leave here to-day.
You've been here th