"He came and asked me for a match. He was very polite, and finally invited me to dine with him, his son and daughter-in-law. I accepted. Of course the son and daughter-in-law were the two that I had overheard upstairs. I saw that throughout dinner she was in great distress, and at the end as we were leaving the room I let her know that I had overheard her inadvertently before dinner, and that I was eager to help her if there was any way in which I could do so. We had only a moment, Crispin and his son were close upon us. She was, I suppose, at the end of her endurance and snatched at any chance, so she told me to do this--to find you here and give you that message--that's all--absolutely all." "The door opened, making both men turn apprehensively. It was only the shabby little waiter with his tray and the whiskies. He set down the glasses, split the soda, and stared at them both as Dunbar paid him. "Will that be all, gentlemen?" he asked, scratching his ear. "Everything," said Dunbar abruptly. "Gentlemen sleeping here?" "No, we're not. Good-night." "Good-night, sir." With a little sigh the waiter withdrew. The door closed, and instantly the ferns in the pots, the plush chairs and sofa closed round as though they also wanted to hear. "It's an extraordinary piece of luck," Dunbar began. Then he hesitated. "But I don't want to bother you with any more of this. It isn't your affair. You've come into it, after all, only by accident----" He hesitated as though he were making an invitation to Harkness. And Harkness hesitated. He saw that this was his last opportunity of withdrawal. Once again he could hear the voice of the Imp behind his shoulder: "Well, clear out if you want to. You have still plenty of time. And this is positively the last chance I give you----" He drank his whisky and, drinking, crossed his Rubicon. "No, no, I am interested, tremendously interested. Tell me anything you care to and if I can be of any help----" "No, no," Dunbar assured him, "I'm not going to drag you into it. You needn't be afraid of that." "But I _am_ in it!" Harkness answered, smiling; "I'm going back with Crispin to his house this evening!" VII The effect of that upon Dunbar was fantastic. The young man jumped from his chair crying: "You're going back?" "Yes." "To the house?" "Why, yes!" "And to-night!" He stared down at him as though he could not believe the evidence of his ears nor of his eyes nor of anything that was his. Then he finished his whisky with a desperate gulp. "But what's pushing you into this anyway?" he cried at last. "You don't look like the kind of man---- And yet there you were on the hill this afternoon, and then at the hotel and overhearing what Hesther said, and then dining with the man and his asking you---- He did ask you, didn't he?" "Of course he asked me," Harkness answered. "You don't suppose I'd have gone if he didn't."