The Key to Yesterday

"You," demurred the debutante with a disappointed frown, " are only a man. What does a man know about another man?"

"The celebrity," went on Mr. Bellton, ignoring the charge of inefficiency, " avoids women." He paused to laugh. " He was telling Steele that he had come to paint landscape, and I am afraid he will have to be brought lagging into your presence."

"It seems rather brutal to drag him here," suggested Anne Preston. " I, for one, am willing to spare him the ordeal."

"However," pursued Mr. Bellton with some zest of recital, " I have warned him. I told him what dangerous batteries of eyes he must encounter. It seemed to me unfair to let him charge into the lists of loveliness all unarmed--with his heart behind no shield."

"And he . . . how did he take your warning?" demanded Miss Buford.

"I think it is his craven idea to avoid the danger and retreat at the first opportunity. He said that he