"Do you know who this Mr. Conrad Howe is?"
"No one seems to know; his identity has been kept secret most successfully."
"Do you suppose it is not his real name?"
"I have an idea it isn't; it sounds assumed, doesn't it?"
"I'm not sure. What do you think, Tom? Let me introduce you to Mr. Annesley,—my cousin, Captain Bolitho, who is just home from India." They bowed severely to each other.
"We were discussing," said Connie, cheerfully, "whether Conrad Howe was a real or a pen name. What do you think?"
"I don't know anything about these writing Johnnies. I don't see why they shouldn't use their own names unless they're ashamed of them."
"Perhaps you don't quite understand, Tom," Miss Bolitho suggested.
"Perhaps I don't!" said Tom.
"The climate of India is so trying," Miss Bolitho whispered to Annesley.