Hewantedpen，ink，andpaper。Therewasanoldstandishonthemantelshelfcontainingadustyapologyforallthree。Havingsetthisbeforehim，thelandlordwasretiring，whenhemotionedhimtostay。
’There’sahousenotfarfromhere，’saidtheguestwhenhehadwrittenafewlines，’whichyoucalltheWarren，Ibelieve？’
Asthiswassaidinthetoneofonewhoknewthefact，andaskedthequestionasathingofcourse，Johncontentedhimselfwithnoddinghisheadintheaffirmative;atthesametimetakingonehandoutofhispocketstocoughbehind，andthenputtingitinagain。
’Iwantthisnote’——saidtheguest，glancingonwhathehadwritten，andfoldingit，’conveyedtherewithoutlossoftime，andananswerbroughtbackhere。Haveyouamessengerathand？’
Johnwasthoughtfulforaminuteorthereabouts，andthensaidYes。