When the play was over Mark carefully adjusted Miss Gilbert's wraps. As he passed through the aisle he saw for the first time Edgar and his father looking at him with astonished eyes.
"Good evening," he said with a smile. "I hope you enjoyed the play."
"Come, Mark, it is growing late," said Maud.
Mark bowed and passed on.
"Well, if that doesn't beat all!" ejaculated Edgar. "They seemed very intimate."
When Mark bade Miss Gilbert good night after ringing the bell at her home, she pressed a bank note into his hand.
"Thank you so much," she said. "Keep the change, and when I want another escort I will send for you."
By the light of the street lamp Mark inspected the bill and found it was a five.
"That will give me over three dollars for myself," he said joyfully. "So the rent is secure."
The next day about two o'clock he was in the office of a prominent banker to whom he had carried a message, when a wild-looking man with light brown hair and wearing glasses, rushed in, and exclaimed dramatically to the astonished banker, "I want a hundred thousand dollars! Give it to me at once, or I will blow your office to atoms."