He went forward till he could look into the front window of the restaurant, and he saw the actor and girl pass behind a screen down the room. “I suppose the tables reserved for ladies must be down there,” muttered Frank. “Well, I don’t like the idea of playing the spy on anybody, and so I think I will let them alone.” He walked on, but his sense of satisfaction had passed, and he was depressed. Although he tried to forget the actor and the girl, he found he could not do so. Before the hotel was reached, he stopped short and stood in deep thought for some minutes. The blue eyes and innocent face of the girl haunted him. “I can’t abandon her to what may happen!” he muttered. “No, even though I hate to play the spy. It is my duty to see that no harm comes to that foolish girl.” He turned squarely about and retraced his steps. Reaching the restaurant, he entered and walked down the room till he reached a table near the screen. There he took a seat, for, just as he reached that place he noticed a mirror set against the wall in such a position that it reflected a certain portion of the room beyond the screen, and that mirror showed him Dunton and the blue-eyed girl sitting at a table. Frank sat down where he could watch their every movement by aid of the mirror. There were a number of couples in the room beyond the screen, and the sound of talk and laughter came plainly to Merry’s ears. Three men besides himself had taken seats in his part of the room. Merry had sized up the place quickly. He decided that it was a second-rate restaurant, catering to the class of people who kept late hours. A waiter came for his order, and Frank realized that he was hungry, so he ran over the bill of fare and ordered something he fancied would satisfy his appetite. “What will you drink?” asked the waiter. “Water,” was Frank’s answer. “Wouldn’t you like beer?” “No.” “Tea or coffee?” “No.” The waiter lifted his eyebrows in surprise and departed. While waiting for the order to be served Merry watched the reflections of Dunton and the blue-eyed girl. The actor was doing his best to make her feel at ease, but it was evident that the experience of dining with a man in a restaurant at that hour of the night was novel to her, and she was nervous and excited, although she made efforts to appear at ease. The popping of corks and clinking of glasses came from beyond the screen. The laughter of the men and women was of the strained and artificial kind. One man was talking rather loudly in a manner that plainly indicated his tongue felt thick and unwieldy. Occasionally a woman would begin to sing, but her companions cut her off. “A bad place for the blue-eyed girl!” thought Merry. “I doubt if she ever saw anything like it before.”