Hawker, prowling through the crowd, heard a voice near his shoulder say, "Do you know where is the stage for Hemlock Inn ?" Hawker turned and found a young woman regarding him.

A wave of astonishment whirled into his hair, and he turned his eyes quickly for fear that she would think that he had looked at her.

He said, "Yes, certainly, I think I can find it." At the same time he was crying to himself: "Wouldn't I like to paint her, though! What a glance--oh, murder! The--the--the distance in her eyes!" He went fiercely from one driver to another.

That obdurate stage for Hemlock Inn must appear at once.

Finally he perceived a man who grinned expectantly at him.