“Difference,” said Mr. Smith, with an obvious effort. His face had lost its scornful expression and given way to one almost sheepish in its mildness. Mr. Kybird, staring at him in some surprise, even thought that he detected a faint shade of pink. [Illustration: “It was Teddy done it,’ said Mr. Kybird, humbly.”] “We ain’t all as clever as wot you are, Nat,” he said, somewhat taken aback at this phenomenon. “It wouldn’t do.” Mr. Smith made a strange noise in his throat and turned on him sharply. Mr. Kybird, still staring in surprise at his unwonted behaviour, drew back a little, and then his lips parted and his eyes grew round as he saw the cause of his friend’s concern. An elderly gentleman with a neatly trimmed white beard and a yellow rose in his button-hole was just passing on the other side of the road. His tread was elastic, his figure as upright as a boy’s, and he swung a light cane in his hand as he walked. As Mr. Kybird gazed he bestowed a brisk nod upon the bewildered Mr. Smith, and crossed the road with the evident intention of speaking to him. “How do, Smith?” he said, in a kindly voice. The boarding-master leaned against the shop-window and regarded him dumbly. There was a twinkle in the shipbroker’s eyes which irritated him almost beyond endurance, and in the doorway Mr. Kybird—his face mottled with the intensity of his emotions—stood an unwelcome and frantic witness of his shame. “You’re not well, Smith?” said Mr. Swann, shaking his head at him gently. “You look like a man who has been doing too much brain-work lately. You’ve been getting the better of somebody, I know.” Mr. Smith gasped and, eyeing him wickedly, strove hard to recover his self-possession. “I’m all right, sir,” he said, in a thin voice. “I’m glad to see you’re looking a trifle better, sir.” “Oh, I’m quite right, now,” said the other, with a genial smile at the fermenting Mr. Kybird. “I’m as well as ever I was. Illness is a serious thing, Smith, but it is not without its little amusements.” Mr. Smith, scratching his smooth-shaven chin and staring blankly in front of him, said that he was glad to hear it. “I’ve had a long bout of it,” continued the ship-broker, “longer than I intended at first. By the way, Smith, you’ve never spoken to anybody of that business, of course?” “Of course not, sir,” said the boarding-master, grinding his teeth. “One has fancies when one is ill,” said Mr. Swann, in low tones, as his eye dwelt with pleasure on the strained features of Mr. Kybird. “I burnt the document five minutes after you had gone.” “Did you, reely?” said Mr. Smith, mechanically. “I’m glad it was only you and the doctor that saw my foolishness,” continued the other, still in a low voice. “Other people might have talked, but I knew that you were a reliable man, Smith. And you won’t talk about it in the future, I’m quite certain of that. Good afternoon.”