She met Warrington at luncheon, and she greeted him amiably. To her
mind there was something pitiful in the way the man had tried to
improve his condition. Buttons had been renewed, some with black
thread and some with white; and there were little islands of brown
yarn, at the elbows, at the bottom of the pockets, along the seams. So
long as she lived, no matter whom she might marry, she was convinced
that never would the thought of this man fade completely from her
memory. Neither the amazing likeness nor the romantic background had
anything to do with this conviction. It was the man's utter loneliness.

"I have been waiting for Parrot & Co. all the morning," she said.

"I'll show him to you right after luncheon. It wasn't that I had
forgotten."

She nodded; but he did not comprehend that this inclination of the head
explained that she knew the reason of the absence. She could in fancy
see the strong brown fingers clumsily striving to thread the needle.
(As a matter of fact, her imagination was at fault. James had done the
greater part of the repairing.)

Rajah took the center of the stage; and even the colonel forgot his
liver long enough to chuckle when the bird turned somersaults through
the steel-hoop. Elsa was delighted. She knelt and offered him her
slim white finger. Rajah eyed it with his head cocked at one side. He
turned insolently and entered his cage. Since he never saw a finger
without flying at it in a rage, it was the politest thing he had ever
done.

"Isn't he a sassy little beggar?" laughed the owner. "That's the way;