THE DECOY-HOUSE OF EUROPE Spencer wrote out his luncheon with the extreme care of the man to whom eating has passed to its proper place amongst the arts, and left to Duncombe the momentous question of red wine or white.

Finally, he leaned back in his chair, and looked thoughtfully across at his companion.
"Sir George," he said, "you have placed me in a very painful position." Duncombe glanced up from his _hors d'oeuvre_.
"What do you mean ?" "I will explain," Spencer continued.

"You came to me last night with a story in which I hope that I showed a reasonable amount of interest, but in which, as a matter of fact, I was not interested at all.

Girls and boys who come to Paris for the first time in their lives unattended, and find their way to the Cafe Montmartre, and such places, generally end up in the same place.

It would have sounded brutal if I had added to your distress last night by talking like this, so I determined to put you in the way of finding out for yourself.