Poleon had hoped to get away quietly; his heart was too heavy to let him face Necia or this man, and run the risk of their reading his secret, so a plaintive wrinkle gathered between his eyes that grew into a smile.

And then, as if he were not tried sufficiently, the girl herself came flying in.
"What's this I hear ?" she cried.

"Alluna tells me--" She saw the telltale pile on the counter, and her face grew white.

"Then it's true! Oh, Poleon!" He smiled, and spoke cheerily.

"Yes, I been t'inkin' 'bout dis trip long tam'." "When are you coming back ?" "Wal, if I fin' dat new place w'at I'm lookin' for I don' never come back.