"What a beautiful night!" I volunteered. "The beginning of the end." "The beginning of the end? What does that mean?" "Why, when you first spoke to me, it was about the weather." "Oh, but this isn't going to be the end; this is the true beginning of all things." "I wish I could see it in that light; but we can not see beauty in anything when hunger lies back of the eyes. I haven't had anything to eat, save that single apple, for hours and hours. I was so excited at Mouquin's that I ate almost nothing." "You are hungry? Well, we'll fix that when we get to Moriarty's. I'll find a way of waking him up, in case he's asleep, which I doubt. There will be cold chicken and ham and hot coffee." "Lovely!" "And we shall dine with the gods. And now it is all over and done, it _was_ funny, wasn't it?" "Terribly funny!"--with a shade of irony. "It would have been funnier still if the real Haggerty hadn't turned up. The patrol had arrived." "But it didn't happen. I shall never forget this night,"--romantically. "I should be inordinately glad to forget it completely,"--decidedly. "Where's your romance?" I asked. "I'd rather have it served to me between book-covers. As I grow older my love of repose increases." "Do you know," I began boldly, "it seems that I have known you all my life." "Indeed!" "Yes. Why, I might really have known you all my life, and still not have known you as well as I do this very minute,--and less than a dozen hours between this and our first meeting. You are as brave as a paladin, wise as a serpent, cool, witty--and beautiful!" "Shall I ask the driver to let me out?" Then she laughed, a rollicking, joyous laugh. "What is so funny?" "I was thinking of that coal-bin." "Well, I didn't permit a lonely potato to frighten me," I retorted. "No, you were brave enough--among the potatoes." "You _are_ beautiful!" "I am hungry." "You are the most beautiful girl--" "I want something to eat." "--I ever saw! Do you think it possible for a man to fall in love at first sight?" "Oh, nothing is impossible on Tom Fool's night. Positive, fool; comparative, fooler; superlative, foolest. You are marching on with your degrees, Mr. Comstalk." "You might call me Dicky," I said in an aggrieved tone. "Dicky? Never! I should always be thinking of paper collars." "I wish _I_ were witty like that!" She snuggled down beneath the robes. An artist's model, thought I. Never in this world. I now understood the drift of her uncle's remark about her earning capacity. The Alice Hawthorne miniatures brought fabulous prices. And here I was, sitting so close to her that our shoulders touched: and she a girl who knew intimately emperors and princesses and dukes, not to mention the worldly-rich. I admit that for a moment I was touched with awe. And it was beginning to get serious. This girl interested me marvelously. I summoned up all my courage. "Are--are you married?" "No-o." "Nor engaged to be married?"