precisely parted in the middle and sleeked down in two whirls
brought low on his forehead.

``I'd like to get Mr. Feuerstein's address,'' said Otto.

``That dead-beat?'' the young man replied contemptuously. ``I
suppose he got into you like he did into every one else. Yes,
you can have his address. And give him one for me when you catch
him. He did me out of ten dollars.''

Otto went on to the boarding-house in East Sixteenth Street. No,
Mr. Feuerstein was not in and it was not known when he would
return--he was very uncertain. Otto went to Stuyvesant Square
and seated himself where he could see the stoop of the
boarding-house. An hour, two hours, two hours and a half passed,
and then his patient attitude changed abruptly to action. He saw
the soft light hat and the yellow bush coming toward him. Mr.
Feuerstein paled slightly as he recognized Otto.

``I'm not going to hurt you,'' said Otto in a tone which Mr.
Feuerstein wished he had the physical strength to punish. ``Sit
down here--I've got something to say to you.''

``I'm in a great hurry. Really, you'll have to come again.''

But Otto's look won. Mr. Feuerstein hesitated, seated himself.

``I want to tell you,'' said Otto quietly, ``that as the result
of your going away so suddenly and not coming back a wicked lying
story is going round about Hilda. She does not know it yet,