"Don't you know him? I do. I have seen his picture often. He's the editor of the Evening Star. Won't Arthur be glad!" "What's his name?" "Walter Leyden O'Malley. He's the literary descendant of the great Dana. Don't talk to me, child; I know a great deal." Gay endeavored to assume the look of an encyclopædia and failed. "Mr. Langham," said Lee, "mentioned three other names, Alston, Pritchard, and Cox. Which do you suppose is which?" [Pg 55] [Pg 55] "I think that Pritchard is the very tall one who looks like a Kentucky colonel; Cox is the one with the very large face; of course, the Englishman is Alston." "I don't." "We can find out from Maud." When the new arrivals, escorted by Arthur and Mr. Langham, had left the office, Lee and Gay hurried in to look at their signatures and to consult Maud as to identities. The Kentucky-colonel-looking man proved to be Alston. Cox had the large face, and the Englishman—John Arthur Merrivale Pritchard, as was to be expected—wrote the best hand. Mr. O'Malley, the famous editor, wrote the worst. His signature looked as if it had been traced by an inky worm writhing in agony. "Tell us at once," Gay demanded, "what they are like." Maud regarded her frolicsome sisters with inscrutable eyes, and said: "At first, you think that Mr. Cox is a heartless old cynic, but when you get to know him really well—I remember an instance that occurred in the early sixties——" "Oh, dry up!" said Lee. "Are they nice and presentable, like fat old Sam Langham?" [Pg 56] [Pg 56]
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