I came
here," said he, with rather too blunt an implication, "to be let alone."
"I was thinking of references, you know. You have friends in New York,
then?"
"Yes, I have two. But I doubt if you would regard them as serviceable
for references. The best of them is only a policeman; the other is a
yeggman by trade--his brother, by the way."
She was silent a moment, wondering if he were telling the truth, and
deciding what to say next. The young man used the silence to bolt his
coffee at a gulp and go hurriedly but deeply into the preserves.
"My aunt will be glad that you can make a remittance to-night. I will
take it to her for you with pleasure."
"Oh!-All right."
He put his hand into his outer breast-pocket, pulled out an envelope,
and absently pitched it across the table. She looked at it and saw that
it was postmarked the city and bore a typewritten address.
"Am I to open this?"
"Oh, as you like," said he, and, removing the spoon, turned a page.
The agent picked up the envelope with anticipations of helpful clues. It
was her business to find out everything that she could about Mr.
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