"Eh?"

"Why, the Ajax is one of the Dietz chain! Herman Dietz of
Cincinnati owns it. He left for the North not an hour ago. At the
last minute he heard you were here--read this story in the paper
--and had bellboys scouring the place for you. You must know why he
wanted to see you, and what he said when he found that he'd have
to leave before you came in."

Colonel Gray uttered another exclamation, this time an expletive
of deep relief. He fought with himself a moment, then murmured an
apology. "Sorry. You gave me a start-decidedly. Herman Dietz, eh?
Well, well! You made me think for a moment that I was a guest in
the house of some other--friend."

"_Friend?_"

"Exactly!" Gray was himself again now. He ran a loosening finger
between his collar and throat. "Quite a start, I'll admit, but
--some of my friends are great practical jokers. They have a way of
jumping out at me and crying 'Boo!' when I least expect it."

"Um-m! I see. Mr. Dietz told me that he was under lifelong
obligation to a certain Colonel Calvin Gray. Something to do with
passports--"

"I once rendered him a slight favor."

"He doesn't regard the favor as 'slight.' He was about to be
imprisoned for the duration of the war and you managed to get him