In the broken chair by the littered desk sat Billy Durgin, his eyes ablaze with the lust of the chase.

As I pushed into the dingy little room Solon halted in his walk and, with a flourish that did not entirely lack the dramatic, he handed me the narrow strip of paper.

The item was brief.
"Mrs.J.Rodney Potts, the estimable wife of Colonel J.Rodney Potts of this town, will arrive here from the East next Thursday to make her home among us." I looked up, to find them eager for my comment.
"Is it true ?" I asked.
"It is," said Solon.

"I shall meet the lady on the arrival of the eleven-eight train next Thursday." "Well--what of it ?" "We are now about to see 'what of it.' My trusty and fearless young lieutenant here"-- he indicated Billy, who coughed in his hand and looked modestly out the window--"is now about to beard Potts in his den and find out 'what of it.' I may say that we hope there will be a good deal of it.

I gather as much from the correspondence of the last three weeks with the lady referred to in that simple galley proof, which I set up and pulled with my own hands.