I HAD just left the horse show and was glad of it, 

 for it was much nicer to dawdle along the east side 

 of the Square. It was a glorious night, moony and 

 sweetly calm the finest imaginable correction for 

 the overdose inside the Garden. Suddenly, " Hello ! " 

 said somebody close by. I looked up I stood a 

 fraction over six feet high yet I looked up. 



What I saw was worth several long looks. One 

 doesn't often see a middle-aged man who stands 

 six-feet-three, on legs as straight as ramrods ; above 

 them, a waist like a healthy girl's, chest and shoulders 

 worthy of old Hercules himself, and topped off with 

 a big handsome face. The carelessly swinging 

 covert-coat revealed an expanse of white which 

 looked like a tombstone erected to the memory of 

 clean, sagacious living. 



" This is curious," he said in a hearty voice. 

 " Not half an hour ago we were speaking about you. 

 I was wondering if you were game for a day's Bob 

 White shooting on Long Island, Staten Island, or 

 anywhere else within easy reach. I've a friend from 

 England, a parson and a good sort, who is eager to 

 try what he calls ' quail,' as we did until last year." 



" The whole thing's curious, Doctor," I replied, 

 " for it happens I've a pressing invitation, good for a 



374 



