THEMAN”Youknowtheman?””Ido；orrather，Iknowamanwhoanswerstothisdescription。Hecomeshereonceinawhile。Idonotknowwhetherornothewasinthebuildingto-night，butClausencantellyou；nooneescapesClausen’seye。””Hisname。””Brotherson。Averyuncommonpersoninmanyrespects；quitecapableofsuchaneccentricity，butincapable，Ishouldsay，ofcrime。He’sagiftedtalkerandsowellreadthathecanholdone’sattentionforhours。Ofhistastes，Icanonlysaythattheyappeartobemainlyscientific。Butheisnotaversetosociety，andisalwaysverywelldressed。””Atasteforscienceandforfineclothingdonotoftengotogether。””Thismanisanexceptiontoallrules。TheoneI’mspeakingof，I
mean。Idon’tsaythathe’sthefellowseenpotteringinthesnow。””CallupClausen。”
Themanagersteppedtothetelephone。
Meanwhile，Georgehadadvancedtospeaktoamanwhohadbeckonedtohimfromtheothersideoftheroom，andwithwhominanothermomentIsawhimstepout。Thusdeserted，Isankintoachairnearoneofthewindows。NeverhadIfeltmoreuncomfortable。Toattributeguilttoatotallyunknownperson-apersonwhoislittlemoretoyouthanashadowysilhouetteagainstabackgroundofsnow-iseasyenoughandnotverydisturbingtotheconscience。Buttohearthatpersonnamed；givenpositiveattributes；liftedfromtheindefiniteintoaliving，breathingactuality，withaman’shopes，purposesandresponsibilities，isanentirelydifferentproposition。ThisBrothersonmightbethemostinnocentpersonalive；and，ifso，whathadwedone?Nothingtocongratulateourselvesupon，certainly。AndGeorgewasnotpresenttocomfortandencourageme。Hewas-
Wherewashe?Themanwhohadcarriedhimoffwastheyoungestinthegroup。WhathadhewantedofGeorge?Thosewhoremainedshowednointerestinthematter。Theyhadenoughtosayamongthemselves。ButIwasinterested-naturallyso，and，inmyuneasiness，glancedrestlesslyfromthewindow，theshadeofwhichwasup。Theoutlookwasaverypeacefulone。Thisroomfacedasidestreet，and，asmyeyesfelluponthewhitenedpavements，I