"It's nothing to do with him," declared Mr. Letts. "And, besides, he's
not what I should call a judge of character. I dare say you are all
right, but I'm going to see for myself. You go on in the ordinary way
with your love-making, without taking any notice of me. Try and forget
I'm watching you. Be as natural as you can be, and if you do anything I
don't like I'll soon tell you of it."

The bewildered Mr. Widden turned, but, reading no hope of assistance in
the infuriated eyes of Mr. Green, appealed in despair to Betty.

"I don't mind," she said. "Why should I?"

Mr. Widden could have supplied her with many reasons, but he refrained,
and sat in sulky silence while Mr. Letts got ready. From his point of
view the experiment was by no means a success, his efforts to be natural
being met with amazed glances from Mr. Letts and disdainful requests from
Miss Foster to go home if he couldn't behave himself. When he relapsed
into moody silence Mr. Letts cleared his throat and spoke.

"There's no need to be like a monkey-on-a-stick, and at the same time
there's no need to be sulky," he pointed out; "there's a happy medium."

"Like you, I s'pose?" said the frantic suitor. "Like me," said the
other, gravely. "Now, you watch; fall in behind and watch."

He drew Miss Foster's arm through his and, leaning towards her with
tender deference, began a long conversation. At the end of ten minutes
Mr. Widden intimated that he thought he had learned enough to go on with.

"Ah! that's only your conceit," said Mr. Letts over his shoulder. "I was