Bassett and Atwill held a conference the next day and the interview was one of length.  The manager of the “Courier” came to the office in the Boordman Building at eleven o’clock, and when Harwood went to luncheon at one the door had not been opened.  Miss Farrell, returning from her midday repast, pointed to the closed door, lifted her brows, and held up her forefinger to express surprise and caution.  Miss Farrell’s prescience was astonishing; of women she held the lightest opinion, Dan had learned; her concern was with the affairs of men.  Harwood, intent upon the compilation of a report of the paper-mill receivership, was nevertheless mindful of the unwonted length of the conference.  When he returned from luncheon, Bassett had gone, but he reappeared at three o’clock, and a little later Atwill came back and the door closed again.  This second interview was short, but it seemed to leave Bassett in a meditative frame of mind.  Wishing to discuss some points in the trial balance of the receiver’s accountant, Harwood entered and found Bassett with his hat on, slowly pacing the floor.

“Yes; all right; come in,” he said, as Harwood hesitated.  He at once addressed himself to the reports with his accustomed care.  Bassett carried an immense amount of data in his head.  He understood bookkeeping and was essentially thorough.  Dan constantly found penciled calculations on the margins of the daily reports from the paper-mill, indicating that Bassett scrutinized the figures carefully, and he promptly questioned any deviation from the established average of loss and gain.  Bassett threw down his pencil at the end of half an hour and told Dan to proceed with the writing of the report.

“I’d like to file it personally so I can talk over the prospect of getting an order of sale before the judge goes on his vacation.  We’ve paid the debts and stopped the flow of red ink, so we’re about ready to let go.”

While they were talking Miss Farrell brought in a telegram for Harwood; it was the summons from Mrs. Owen that he had been waiting for; she bade him come to Montgomery the next day.  He handed the message to Bassett.

“Go ahead.  I’ll go over there if you like and find you the necessary bondsmen.  I know the judge of the circuit court at Montgomery very well.  You go in the morning?  Very well; I’ll stay here till you get back.  Mrs. Bassett will be well enough to leave the sanatorium in a few days, and I’m going up to Waupegan to get the house ready.”

“It will be pleasant for Mrs. Bassett to have Mrs. Owen there this summer.  Anybody is lucky to have a woman of her qualities for a neighbor.”

“She’s a noblewoman,” said Bassett impressively, “and a good friend to all of us.”

On the train the next morning Harwood unfolded the day’s “Courier” in the languidly critical frame of mind that former employees of newspapers bring to the reading of the journals they have served.  He scanned the news columns and opened to the editorial page.  The leader at once caught his eye.  It was double-leaded,—­an emphasis rarely employed at the “Courier” office, and was condensed in a single brief paragraph that stared oddly at the reader under the caption “STOP, LOOK, LISTEN.”  It held Harwood’s attention through a dozen amazed and mystified readings.  It ran thus:—­