It was strange to see him, after all these years, here on the platform of Euston, looking so prosperous and solid. It was not only the f?lesh that he had put on, but also the clothes, that made him hard to recognize. In the old days, an imitation fur coat had seemed to be as an integral part of him as were his ill-shorn lantern jaws. But now his costume was a model of rich and somber moderation, drawing, not calling, attention to itself. He looked like a banker. Any one could have been proud to be seen off by him.
“Stand back, please!” the train was about to start, and I waved farewell to my friend. Le Ros did not stand back. He stood clasping in both hands the hands of the young American. “Stand back, sir, please!” he obeyed, but quickly darted forward again to whisper some f?inal word. I think there were tears in her eyes. There certainly were tears in his when, at length, having watched the train out of sight, he turned round. He seemed, nevertheless, delighted to see me. He asked me where I had been hiding all these years; and simultaneously repaid me the half-crown as though it had been borrowed yesterday. He linked his arm in mine, and walked with me slowly along the platform, saying with what pleasure he read my dramatic criticisms every Saturday.
I told him, in return, how much he was missed on the stage. “Ah, yes,” he said, “I never act on the stage nowadays.” He laid some emphasis on the word “stage”. and I asked him where, then, he did act. “On the platform,” he answered. “You mean,” said I, “that you recite at concerts?” He smiled. “This,” he whispered, striking his stick on the ground, “is the platform I mean.” Had his mysterious prosperity unhinged him? He looked quite sane. I begged him to be more explicit.
“I suppose,” he said presently, giving me a light for the cigar which he had offered me, “You have been seeing a friend off? I assented. He asked me what I supposed he had been doing. I said that I had watched him doing the same thing. “No,” he said gravely. “That lady was not a friend of mine. I met her for the f?irst time this morning, less than half an hour ago, here.” and again he struck the platform with his stick.