"I'll come back in business hours to-morrow," he said. "Sorry to disturb you, but I hadn't a minute all day, and there was a question I figured we could best talk over quietly."
"Then you had better start in with it," said Alton quietly. "This lady, who came here on business, is just going."
"Of course," said the stranger. "I think I have had the pleasure of meeting her."
He turned with a little smile which broadened into a grin Alton found intolerable, for there was a patter of feet on the stairway, and when he looked round except for himself and Alton the room was empty.
"The fact is I'm awfully sorry," he said. "But how was I to know?"
The veins were swollen on Alton's forehead, and his eyes half-closed. "Now," he said sternly, "I don't want to hear any more of that. I think I told you the lady you saw here came in a few minutes ago on an affair of business."
It was unfortunate that Alton had a difficult temper and his visitor no discretion, for there are men in whom Western directness degenerates into effrontery.
"Of course!" said the latter. "My dear fellow, you needn't protest. Considering the connection between her employers and Hallam, who is scarcely a friend of yours, that is especially likely."
Alton stood very straight, looking at the speaker in a fashion which would have warned any one who knew him. "I figure you can't help being a fool, but I want to hear you admit that you're sorry for it," he said.
He spoke very quietly, but it was unfortunate for both of them that the other man, who was growing slightly nettled, did not know when to stop.