seemed to be on the surface. Perhaps I misjudged him. Indeed, I think I
must have done so, for he stands well with everybody, and is highly
respected."

I looked at the clock on the mantel piece. It was ten minutes to seven,
I rose from my seat.

"I will ask you to excuse me for an hour or two, Alice. I must find
Johnny Gray."

"But you will not leave me, Willie, until you have given me some clue
to your unexpected arrival, and to the strange questions you have been
asking? Dinner is ready, and can be served at once. Pray don't go out
again till you have dined."

She clung to my arm. It was evident that she considered me mad, and
thought it probable that I might make away with myself. This I could
not bear. As for eating any dinner, that was simply impossible in my
then frame of mind, although I had not tasted food since leaving
Rochester. I resolved to tell her all. I resumed my seat. She placed
herself on a stool at my feet, and listened while I told her all that I
have set down as happening to me subsequently to my last letter to her
from Melbourne.

"And now, Alice, you know why I wish to see Johnny Gray."

She would have accompanied me, but I thought it better to prosecute my
inquiries alone. I promised to return sometime during the night, and
tell her the result of my interview with Gray. That gentleman had
married and become a householder on his own account during my absence