was being murdered in these unfamiliar surroundings; then he caught the
order to go home for an extra coat.

Lanley drew his shoulder back into the room and shut the window; as he
did so he saw a trace of something impish in the smile of his hostess.

"Why do you smile?" he asked quickly.

She did not make the mistake of trying to arrest her smile; she let
it broaden.

"I don't suppose you have ever done such a thing before."

"Now, that does annoy me."

"Calling down five stories?"

"No; your thinking I minded."

"Well, I did think so."

"You were mistaken, utterly mistaken."

"I'm glad. If you mind doing such things, you give so much time to
arranging not to do them."

Mr. Lanley was silent. He was deciding that he should rearrange some of
the details of his life. Not that he contemplated giving all his orders
from the fifth story, but he saw he had always devoted too much attention
to preventing unimportant catastrophes.