"You didn't fall in love with her!" said the investigator, through a haze of pipe smoke.
"I did," replied the big athlete. "I fell for her as a man falls off a steeple—there was never a chance for me—even if I'd looked for one—which I never did."
"That's a novelty," said Ashton-Kirk. "I'd never have thought of you in that way, Bat."
"I'd never have thought it of myself, only it was kept pretty bright in my mind," said Scanlon. "We got to be good friends—but I had to jump away south. When I got back, Nora was in Denver playing a season. I didn't see her for a year; and by that time she'd got her head full of being a big star in the east, and so as I had nothing of value to dim this idea, why, I pulled out without her ever knowing just how I was feeling. In another year she was married—to Burton; and I was down for the full count."
"Too bad!" said Ashton-Kirk, rather more absently than should have been the case. "Too bad!"
"And that's what I mean," said Bat Scanlon, "when I say that I may declare myself before long. I won't if I can help it; but if certain things come to pass—well, there's nothing else to be expected."
"Of course not!" said the investigator. "You are quite right. But let us hope that everything will come out all right." He looked at his watch, and then arose briskly from the sofa. "I'd almost forgotten," he said. "My plan was to visit young Burton to-day. Will you come along?"
The idea appealed to Scanlon. He had seen the young artist only once, and that once had left its impress on his mind.
"Sure," said he; "there's nothing I'd like better than a chance to hear and see that young fellow again."
Ashton-Kirk summoned Stumph and said: