"I want to thank you so much for doing this errand for us. I know you must be mystified by the urgency of my wire, and this is my best way to tell you in a few words what has occurred. You can see that the matter is confidential, for time and labor and the law will be necessary to adjust matters, but I feel we owe it to you to tell you all. Of course, the boy knows nothing as yet--" When Philip finally turned from the telephone, he met his companion's troubled gaze, the hairbrush hung suspended in the air. "Was it Uncle Nick?" he asked. "No," returned Philip. He continued to sit still for a minute, regarding the unconscious millionaire with the penny in the pocket of his outgrown trousers. "It's all right, old man. Miss Wilbur wants us to come down to lunch, that's all." As they went to the elevator to descend, the boy spoke again: "Uncle Nick hates--he hates Mrs. Lowell," he said. "Good thing he isn't coming, then, isn't it?" returned Philip. "But he'll--he will come sometime," said Bert with conviction. Arrived at Diana's suite, they found luncheon ready to be served. Mrs. Wilbur had vanished, not without some uneasy comments upon Philip, which Diana had answered with such utter serenity as to quiet any suspicion she might have entertained that there was something personal in her child's extraordinary attachment to the wilderness. The four sat down to the charming little meal, and, in spite of the boy's unconquerable apprehensions, he ate pretty well, as he sat there opposite Philip and between Mrs. Lowell and Diana. The former asked him about the garden and the croquet ground, while Philip addressed himself to Diana, who wore the gray gown with a rose at the belt, although she had felt she could never put it on again. The contents of a suitcase do not admit of much variety of costume. "I'm almost dumb with surprise at your news," he said. "Of course you would be." "Does the ogre know of the arrival of relatives?" "He has not the least suspicion of it. He will be told to-morrow." "Can a can be tied to him?" Bert was telling about weeding the garden with Veronica, and Diana leaned a little toward Philip. "What--what was your question?" Philip smiled. "I asked if it would be possible to eliminate the gentleman." "I think so. Mr. Loring's lawyer is, of course, attending to the whole matter and is to see him for the second time to-morrow. Does any one doubt that truth is stranger than fiction?" "No." Philip looked across at Mrs. Lowell and the sweet regard she was bending upon the boy, who was trying in his hesitating way to tell her something about the beach. Bert put his hand in his pocket, and Philip wondered if he were going to produce his capital, but instead he drew forth a little yellow stone and offered it to his friend. "That is unusually lovely," she said, and held it up to the light before she handed it back.