``_Mary Jane!_ You mean they actually _call_
you that?''

``Yes,'' bowed the big fellow, calmly, as he
struck a light. ``Appropriate!--don't you
think?''

Calderwell did not answer. He thought he
could not.

``Well, silence gives consent, they say,'' laughed
the other. ``Anyhow, you must have had _some_
reason for calling me that.''

``Arkwright, what _does_ `M. J.' stand for?''
demanded Calderwell.

``Oh, is that it?'' smiled the man opposite.
``Well, I'll own those initials have been something
of a puzzle to people. One man declares they're
`Merely Jokes'; but another, not so friendly, says
they stand for `Mostly Jealousy' of more fortunate
chaps who have real names for a handle. My
small brothers and sisters, discovering, with the
usual perspicacity of one's family on such matters,
that I never signed, or called myself anything but
`M. J.,' dubbed me `Mary Jane.' And there you
have it.''