She bit her lip. "N-o--not wholly." "What, then?" She hesitated. "I can't tell you that just yet," she said at last. "Oh-h!" Laurie pursed his lips in a noiseless whistle. The girl's voice was musically English, and though her accent was that of London, up till now she had spoken as colloquially as any American. Indeed, her speech was much like his sister's. He was puzzled. "Why didn't you tell me this before?" "That I am not wholly American?" She was smiling at him ironically, but he remained serious. "Yes. And--oh, a lot of things! Of course you know I am all at sea about you." The familiar shadow fell over her face. "When one is within an hour or two of the next world," she asked indifferently, "why should one tell anybody anything?" "How long have you been in America?" "All my life, off and on." This at least was reassuring. He imagined he saw a gleam of light. The girl had declared that she was not a spy, nor involved in war propaganda; but it was quite possible, he reasoned, that she was enmeshed in some little web of politics, of vast importance to her and her group, of very little importance to any one else. "I suppose," he suggested cheerfully, "that net you've said so much about is a political net?" They had been speaking throughout in low tones, inaudible at any other table. Their nearest fellow diners were two middle-aged women at least thirty feet away. But she started violently under his words. She made a quick gesture of caution, and, turning half-around, swept the room with a frightened glance. Laurie, his cigarette forgotten in his fingers, watched her curiously, taking in her evident tension, her slowly returning poise, and at last the little breath of relief with which she turned back to him. "I wish I could tell you all you want to know," she said, "but--I can't. That's all there is to it. So please let us change the subject." His assurance returned. "You're not a crowned head or an escaped princess or anything of that kind, are you?" he asked politely. This time she really laughed, a soft, low gurgle of laughter, joyous and contagious. "No." "Then let's get back to our bank-account. We have plenty of time to run over to the Fifth Avenue branch of the Corn Exchange Bank before the closing-hour. What color of check-book do you prefer?" "I told you," she declared with sudden seriousness, "that my bargain did not include sponging." For the first time in the somewhat taxing interview her companion's good humor deserted him. "My dear girl," he said, almost impatiently, "don't beat the devil around the bush! You've got to live till we can find the right work for you, and that may take some time. You have intelligence enough to see that I'm neither a gay Lothario nor a Don Juan. In your present state of mind you're not fit to decide anything. Make up your mind, once for all, that I'm going to decide for you. It will save us both some trouble."