“Eric, I am in trouble,” he said.

The other knew it before he spoke.

To himself he was saying:

“Now, here’s a surprising thing—I am already retained by the wife, and the husband has come to confess his sins. Shall I listen—he must not bind me to a promise not to tell.”

Aloud, he said:

“I’m sorry for that, Joe. Tell me all about it and heaven knows I will aid you all I can.”

“Thank you, old friend—I knew it before you spoke—that was why I finally determined to come here and unbosom myself.”

“It’s coming,” muttered Darrell, smiling grimly.

He fully expected to learn the secret of that mysterious house on Twenty-seventh Street.

“To think,” said Joe, looking around him at the walls and ceiling, “that here in this den where I spent so many careless, happy bachelor hours with you, I should now be detailing the tribulations of married life.”