They were in a retail clothier’s. The salesman drew back. “Davy,” said Bellair, “it’s the most natural thing. First I have the money and you have the needs. Second, we are friends----” Bellair had felt many things hammering for utterance, but when he had come thus far, he found that the whole ground was covered.... The boy hurried home, but Bellair was not ready. With all his affection for the lad, he wanted to be alone. He had held himself to Davy’s needs for hours; but through it all, the sentences--so brief and thoughtless across the breakfast table--recurred smitingly. They hurt everything in him and in an incredible fashion. He marvelled that he had been able to reply quietly. His face burned now, and he thought of the Faraway Woman--how gentle she had been, blaming nothing, holding no sense of being wronged. It was that which helped him now, though his heart was hot and aching.... One must have compassion for the world--one whose home is the house of such a woman. “It must not hurt the Gleam,” he said half-aloud. This was the burden of all his effort. “The Gleam is hers. I must not let the thought of this touch the Gleam--not even in my mind.” The young man was stranded in New York. They met as arranged the next morning. Many difficulties were related, and the perversities of outside influences and the actions of others. The great regret was that at a certain time when he _had_ the money more than a year ago, the young man had delayed for a day to purchase a certain little tobacconist’s shop on Seventh avenue. A friend of his had advised him against it, and plucked the fruit himself. This gave Bellair an idea. In the next ten days, everything seemed waiting for the manager of the _Follies_ to decide the case of Bessie Brealt. Davy was permitted to look for a new job, but Bellair made light of his unsuccess.... He did not look up Broadwell again, understanding clearly that the advertising-man would endanger his position in calling on him. Bellair was not ready to be responsible for such a loss to Broadwell. Employés of Lot & Company did not change easily.... He was frequently, but never long with Bessie during these days. There were moments of disturbing sweetness, and moments that he struggled quickly to forget, as Nature sets about hastily to cover unseemly matters upon the ground. Now that the great event of her life had come, Bessie required much sleep, and cared for her beauty as never before. She already lived, for the most part, in the actual substance of victory, as only the young dare to do; yet she lost none of her zeal in preparation.... Bellair held to the original idea, though the means was not yet articulate. He was sensitive enough to realise that a man may be impertinent, even when trying to help another.