Thus it came to pass that a week later, when a north-easter had met a south-wester overhead and both in combination had turned New York streets into a series of funnels, in and through which wind, sleet and snow fought for possession, to the almost absolute dispossession of humanity and horses, that Peter ended a long stare at his blank wall by putting on his dress-suit, and plunging into the streets. He had, very foolishly, decided to omit dinner, a couple of hours before, rather than face the storm, and a north-east wind and an empty stomach are enough to set any man staring at nothing, if that dangerous inclination is at all habitual. Peter realized this, for the opium eater is always keenly alive to the dangers of the drug. Usually he fought the tendency bravely, but this night he felt too tired to fight himself, and preferred to battle with a little thing like a New York storm. So he struggled through the deserted streets until he had reached his objective point in the broad Second Avenue house. Miss De Voe was at home, but was “still at dinner.” Peter vacillated, wondering what the correct thing was under the circumstances. The footman, remembering him of old, and servants in those simple days being still open to impressions, suggested that he wait. Peter gladly accepted the idea. But he did not wait, for hardly had the footman left him than that functionary returned, to tell Peter that Miss De Voe would see him in the dining-room. “I asked you to come in here, because I’m sure, after venturing out such a night, you would like an extra cup of coffee,” Miss De Voe explained. “You need not sit at the table. Morden, put a chair by the fire.” So Peter found himself sitting in front of a big wood-fire, drinking a cup of coffee decidedly better in quality than his home-brew. Blank walls ceased to have any particular value for the time. In a moment Miss De Voe joined him at the fire. A small table was moved up, and a plate of fruit, and a cup of coffee placed upon it. “That is all, Morden,” she said. “It is so nice of you to have come this evening. I was promising myself a very solitary time, and was dawdling over my dinner to kill some of it. Isn’t it a dreadful night?” “It’s blowing hard. Two or three times I thought I should have to give it up.” “You didn’t walk?” “Yes. I could have taken a solitary-car that passed, but the horses were so done up that I thought I was better able to walk.” Miss De Voe touched the bell. “Another cup of coffee, Morden, and bring the cognac,” she said. “I am not going to let you please your mother to-night,” she told Peter. “I am going to make you do what I wish.” So she poured a liberal portion of the eau-de-vie into Peter’s second cup, and he most dutifully drank it. “How funny that he should be so obstinate sometimes, and so obedient at others,” thought Miss De Voe. “I don’t generally let men smoke, but I’m going to make an exception to-night in your case,” she continued.