Morehead did not answer at once. His mind was working fast; he was evidently feeling his way clear before committing himself. Suddenly he said:
"Peter, how long have you worn a beard?"
The question seemed so irrelevant that the millionaire started.
"Why, nearly all my life," he answered. "I've—I've never shaved. But——"
"It was so bristly," explained the Colonel, "that I thought it might be the result of shaving; but everything about you bristles, so I guess it's nature and not art. When you first saw it coming, you let it grow, didn't you—and you've had it ever since?"
Peter V. did not like the turn the conversation was taking, and merely nodded.
The Colonel uncrossed his legs and sat on the edge of the table, facing them.
"How do you look without a beard?" he asked.
Leslie laughed aloud in sheer delight. The problem seemed to be solving itself, but how or in what way she could not see.
"Blamed if I know," answered Wilkinson. "I don't even remember how I used to look without a beard, and as for photographs, well, in former days those luxuries were not for me, you know."