the text it illuminated, and two portraits, side by side, of the heroes,
himself and Anisty, excellent likenesses both of the originals and of each
other.

Mr. Maitland did not enjoy his dinner.

Anxious and preoccupied, he tasted the dishes mechanically; and when they
had all passed before him, took his thoughts and a cigar to a gloomy corner
of the smoking-room, where he sat for two solid hours, debating the matter
pro and con, and arriving at no conclusion whatever, save that Higgins was
doomed.

At ten-fifteen he began to contemplate with positive pleasure the prospect
of discharging the butler. That, at least, was action, something that he
could do; wherever else he thought to move he found himself baffled by the
blank darkness of mystery, or by his fear of publicity and ridicule.

At ten-twenty he decided to move upon Greenfields at once, and telephoned
O'Hagan, advising him to profess ignorance of his employer's whereabouts.

At ten-twenty-two, or in the midst of his admonitions to the janitor,
he changed his mind and decided to stay in New York; and instructed the
Irishman to bring him a suit-case containing a few necessaries; his
intention being to stay out the night at the club, and so avoid the
matutinal siege of his lodgings by reporters and detectives.

At ten-forty-five a club servant handed him the card of a representative of
the _Evening Journal_. Maitland directed that the gentleman be shown into
the reception-room.