"Ned!" he said, looking back for Blake, "I need a favor. Will you grant it?"
"A hundred!" Blake was buttoning up his coat.
"Then wish me good-night here. I would go home alone."
"Alone? What nonsense! You don't think I'd desert you when you're seedy? What you want is air. We'll take a stroll along the boulevards."
Max shook his head. He seemed rapt in his own thoughts; his pale face was full of purpose.
"I am quite well—now."
"Then all the more reason for the stroll! Come along!"
But the boy drew away. "Another time! Not to-night."
"Why not?"
"I cannot tell you."