From the avenue came a lady escorted by a gentleman. The lady was young and pretty; her face peeped out from her wraps bewitchingly; and she carried one of those feminine sachet arrangements, in which, by the light of the street lamp, she anxiously searched. Her companion ransacked his overcoat pockets, his dress-coat pockets, his waistcoat and trousers pockets; and even looked in his crush-hat. When, following a hurried colloquy, he retraced his steps. O’Hagan, his monocle held some three inches from his left eye, surveyed the charming figure, which now added a new beauty to the corner, with critical aesthetic appreciation. Do not suppose the attention a rude one. O’Hagan is incapable of rudeness to a woman. In another it had been rudeness—yes; but O’Hagan’s frank interest, though embarrassing, is an exquisite flattery. His approval is a superb tribute. He approved. The lady was not unaware of this, nor in the slightest degree displeased. Returning the forgetful cavalier, the pair moved away past the Captain. And two bright eyes acknowledged admiration with a discreet glance swift as a rapier thrust. But Jealousy has as many heads and as many eyes as Siva; nor has it a lesser malignancy. The man turned; strode back to O’Hagan. “What do you mean, sir, by staring at my friend in that way?” His voice, his gaze, his attitude, were truculent. O’Hagan was delighted with such a display of spirit. He dropped the glass and bowed. “If your friend has complained of me, sir, I shall never forgive myself.” “I await no complaint from her. _I_ am complaining, confound your impudence!” O’Hagan raised the glass again, measuring the depths of the speaker’s resentment. He considered the words ill-chosen and ill-mannered; and instantly had revised his estimate of the speaker’s character. “An entirely different matter, sir,” says he. “_You_ can go to the devil.” The other flushed and thrust himself nearer to the suave Captain. “You overdressed puppy!” he rapped furiously. “I have a mind to knock you down!” Dropped the monocle; and a slip of pasteboard was thrust into the hand of the irate man. “Your card, sir!” demanded O’Hagan. “At a more fitting time I will afford you every facility.” “I only exchange cards with gentlemen! sneered the other, savagely; and tore into fragments the one he held. “Your card, sir!” repeated O’Hagan sternly. “You have insulted me, and I demand an opportunity to reply to you. Your card, sir!” “Be damned to you!” said the other—and walked off to rejoin the lady. O’Hagan was but a pace later beside her. He bowed, as no man has bowed in England since the days of plumes and lace. “Madam, permit me to offer you my most humble apologies for having annoyed you!” Innocent eyes, with an imp of mischief dancing in their shadowed pools, met the Captain’s. “You are mistaken, sir. You have not annoyed me in the slightest!”