"Is that your creed--that there is no time for a woman in a professional man's life ?" Max laughed again.

"She mustn't be too beautiful, anyhow." She sprang suddenly to her feet.

The mandolin jarred and jangled upon the ground.

"Are you listening, Allegro ?" she said, and through her deep voice there ran a sinister note that seemed to mingle, oddly vibrant, with the echoing strings of the instrument.

"A professional man can admit only a plain woman into his life.