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 IV

For the next two days Smales was kept busy tunning between the cottage and Guildford with the articles of furniture which Andromeda deemed necessary for comfort. Then on the morning of the third day they packed up their baggage and left the hotel for good. George bustled with unwonted activity and was duly rewarded. Miss Short was most affable to Per- seus when he went to pay the bill. She had seen little of him, it is true, but that was not because she wished it. She expressed the hope that his stay in Guildford had been pleasant. He replied, unthinkingly, that it had been ex- tremely so, nor did he quite realise the nature of his answer until he saw the smile creep round her mouth. Really the ladies of Guildford were quite humorous, and sympathetic, no doubt, to the lonely wayfarer. o

“Now, John,” said he, when they were finally installed in the cottage, acting on a previous