upon her cheeks, and her color deepened all but imperceptibly.

The man's breath halted, then came a trace more rapidly than before. He
bent forward impulsively.

... The girl sighed, ever so gently.

"I was thoughtful.... It's all so strange, you know."

His attitude was an eager question.

"I mean our meeting--that way, last night." She held his gaze again,
momentarily, and----

"Damn the waiter!" quoth savagely Mr. Anisty to his inner man, sitting back
to facilitate the service of their meal.

The girl placated him with an insignificant remark which led both into a
maze of meaningless but infinitely diverting inconsequences; diverting, at
least, to Anisty, who held up his head, giving her back look for look,
jest for jest, platitude for platitude (when the waiter was within hearing
distance): altogether, he felt, acquitting himself very creditably....

As for the girl, in the course of the next half or three-quarters of an
hour she demonstrated herself conclusively a person of amazing resource,
developing with admirable ingenuity a campaign planned on the spur of a
chance observation. The gentle mannered and self-sufficient crook was taken
captive before he realized it, however willing he may have been. Enmeshed
in a hundred uncomprehended subtleties, he basked, purring, the while
she insinuated herself beneath his guard and stripped him of his entire