"Oh, yes! They've gone to the theater, and to dance afterwards. They won't be home until three or after. She insists on my staying up to put her to bed, but they know I go out while they're out." "Have you any news for me?" "Yes, I think I have." "Shoot!" "You remember in my last letter I said Miriam had had a telephone conversation yesterday that seemed to agitate her?" "Yes." "Well, I think I have the explanation. Last night when I was putting my lady to bed--Oh, my dear, you'll never know what I have been through!--Bobo said, apropos of nothing, but only anxious to propitiate her, 'It will be nice to have some relations, won't it?' Miriam replied ill-temperedly: 'I'm not so crazy about it.' 'What's Uncle George like?' asked Bobo. 'Just a business man,' she answered, 'a manufacturer of stoves or something.' 'Well fixed?' asked Bobo. 'He must be or he couldn't have retired,' she answered." Kate went on: "Well, Uncle George and Aunt Sally turned up for lunch to-day." "Ha!" said Jack. "What's he like?" "He doesn't fit the descriptions of 'Mr. B.'" "He wouldn't! Go on." "He's a man of fifty-odd, bald, dean-shaven, blue eyes." "Short and stocky?" "Yes." "So far so good. Go on." "He was very jolly and good-natured; full of jokes: courteous to everybody, even to me. Just the same, Miriam is afraid of him. She is quite subdued when he is there." "Good! We're getting warm. What's Aunt Sally like?" "How do you describe an old lady? She's just like another. She probably set up to be a belle in her youth, because she still wears a false front. She's very quiet. Uncle George talks all the time, and she just listens and nods and smiles. It appears they live in Buffalo and have come to New York for a little gayety. They wanted to see dear Miriam's husband, of course, so they looked her up at once. They're staying at the Hotel Abercrombie, but have decided to move to the Madagascar to be nearer dear Miriam." "What's your opinion, Kitty?" "I'm not dead certain yet. The most suspicious thing is Miriam's attitude. Why should she be in such awe of her agreeable uncle? That they have not seen each other for years, as they give out, is certainly false. One of Uncle's features fits all the descriptions of 'Mr. B.' that we have received. His piercing blue eyes----" "Good!" said Jack. "That's the one feature he couldn't change." "If we were not looking for 'Mr. B.' to appear on the scene, and did not know that he was fiendishly clever, I must say I would never suspect Uncle George. He plays his part to perfection. He lets on to be a prosperous man, and asks no favors of Bobo. I gather that he insists on paying his half everywhere. But to-day I got a hint of his possible game. He and Bobo had a long talk in the Dutch room. I made an excuse to pass through as often as I could, and picked up some scraps of their conversation." "Well?" said Jack eagerly.