it exactly, Miss Thorne. I've lost my reference, and I'm doing my
best to create a good impression without it. I thought that as
long as we were going to be on the same paper, and were both
exiles--"

He paused, and she finished the sentence for him: "that you'd
come to see me. How long have you been in town?"

"'In town' is good," he said. "I arrived in this desolate,
God-forsaken spot just ten days ago. Until now I've hunted and
fished every day, but I didn't get anything but a cold. It was
very good, of its kind--I couldn't speak above a whisper for
three days."

She had already recognised him as the young man she saw standing
in the road the day she went to Miss Ainslie's, and mentally
asked his pardon for thinking he was a book-agent. He might
become a pleasant acquaintance, for he was tall, clean shaven,
and well built. His hands were white and shapely and he was well
groomed, though not in the least foppish. The troublesome eyes
were dark brown, sheltered by a pair of tinted glasses. His face
was very expressive, responding readily to every change of mood.

They talked "shop" for a time, discovering many mutual friends,
and Ruth liked him. He spoke easily, though hurriedly, and
appeared to be somewhat cynical, but she rightly attributed it to
restlessness like her own.

"What are you going to do on The Tribune?" she asked.