"Before chance threw us together you thought me distinctly wicked. You don't think that now, do you?"

"I told the paper I was in the camps of the Persians," he said sententiously. "They fired me then. Why tarry with the flesh-pots further?"

"I've often heard you say that men couldn't preach heaven until they knew life."

He threw up his hands in exasperation. "It isn't fair for a woman to be logical—it takes a man unawares."

"Then you admit I am logical?"

"Even if I wanted to stay, I couldn't."

"Why not?"

His head drooped and a faint colour showed under the bronze of his skin. But he remained silent.

"What's lacking?"

His discomfort was apparent. "I'd like to fix up a bit—get a hair-cut—and things," he stammered.