'They tell me that Mr.Orchard has forsaken his wife, and without intelligible reason.' 'There, too, I can offer an explanation,' replied Barfoot quietly, 'though you may doubt whether it justifies him.

I met Orchard a few months ago in Alexandria, met him by chance in the street, and didn't recognize him until he spoke to me.

He was worn to skin and bone.

I found that he had abandoned all his possessions to Mrs.Orchard, and just kept himself alive on casual work for the magazines, wandering about the shores of the Mediterranean like an uneasy spirit.

He showed me the thing he had last written, and I see it is published in this month's _Macmillan_.