Gray, suddenly; "he knows all about that." 

 "Oh, you mean——" said George, looking at his landlord. 

 "Where are my slippers?" bawled Gray, irritably, suddenly groping about the fireplace. "They're never here when——" 

 "I'll get them, Jimmy!" Mrs. Gray skipped away to the kitchen. 

 "Not a word, mind," said Gray, in a fierce whisper to George. "I won't have that business discussed here. I'm secretary to the 'Old Friends' Society,' at sixty pounds a year. That's good enough for you." 

 "It's good enough for you, I suppose you mean," said George. 

 "Well, remember—not a word." 

 "I'm not sure that I should be doing right——" 

 "You fool, do you want to ruin me? I haven't told her yet, and I can't let her hear it from you." 

 "Why not?" asked George. 

 "You ass!" said Gray, excitedly. "I can't explain here. I don't want her to know." 

 "Quick!" said George, as Mrs. Gray's footsteps sounded in the passage; "shake hands, and I'll keep your secret." 

 The pair grasped hands dramatically. 

 "Yes," said Mrs. Gray; "it's a splendid thing for Jim, isn't it?" 

 "Splendid thing for the club," said George. "They know what they're about; you can take my word for it. Where could they find a man, I should like to know, with the ability, the splendid gifts, and the remarkable knowledge of your husband? He's a man," said George, fixing a keen eye on the paper Gray was reading, "he's a man in a thousand. An orator, a politician, a scientist, a man of the world. His intellect——" 

 "That'll do," snapped Gray. 

 "No," said George, "I won't stop. Why should I? The position is a big one; but you are as good as the position." 

 "That's what I say," said Mrs. Gray, who approved of all George said. 

 "They're getting a man," went on George, "who will fill an honourable 

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