."

"This is an extraordinary request to make to me, sir."

"I know it."

"But why bring it to me?"

"Could I possibly offer that to the cable operator? Without name or
address? No; I could not do it without being subjected to a thousand
questions, none of which I should care to answer. So I came to you.
Passing through your hands, no one will question it. Will you do this
favor for a poor unfortunate devil?"

Oddly enough, the other could not get away from his original
impression. The clothes, the way the man wore them, the clarity of his
eyes, the abundant health that was expressed by the tone of the skin,
derided such a possibility as the cablegram made manifest.

He forced the smile back to his lips. "Are you sure you're not hoaxing
me?"

"No. I am the victim of the hoax," enigmatically. "If one may call
the quirks of fate by the name of hoax," the stranger added. "Will you
send it?"

The years he had spent in the consular service had never brought before
him a situation of this order. He did not know exactly what to do. He
looked out of the window, into the hotel-court, at the sky which
presently would become overcast with the daily rain-clouds. By and by
he remembered the man waiting patiently at his elbow.

"What is your name?"

"My real name, or the one by which I am known here?"

"Your real one."

"I'd rather not give that until I hear from New York."

"Well, that is reasonable."

"I am known out here by the name of Warrington."

Warrington. The puzzlement vanished from the older man's face, and his
eyes became alert, renewing from another angle their investigation of
the stranger. Warrington. So this was the man? He could understand
now. Who could blame a girl for making a mistake when he, a seasoned
veteran, had been beguiled by the outward appearance of the man?
Mallow was right. He was a handsome beggar.

"I promise to send this upon one condition."

"I accept without question," readily.

"It is that you must keep away from Elsa Chetwood, now and hereafter.
You made her acquaintance under false pretenses."

"I deny that. Not under false pretenses." How quickly things went
about! "Let me tell you how I met her."

The consul-general listened; he listened with wonder and interest, and
more, with conviction that the young man had been perfectly honest.
But the knowledge only added to his growing alarm. It would not be
difficult for such a man to win the regard