Explore "The Leopard's Spots" by Fred M. White on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Montague Stagg beamed almost benignly into the troubled, sensitive face of the stranger on the other side of the table. For here was an adventure after the heart of Stagg, and one, moreover, that, properly handled, pointed to considerable pecuniary emolument. To do Stagg justice, however, it was not the unearned increment he was thinking so much about then as the safety of this new protege of his. For Stagg was above all things kind-hearted and generous, and even in the moment of the actual financial strain he would never have dreamt of taking a farthing from anyone in distress. That was not the sort of scoundrel he was. So he bent forward with a pleasing smile on his face and the full intention of helping the young man whatever happened. Then he glanced very cautiously round the restaurant, with a keen eye for anyone who might be watching them. He remembered that advertisement in the agony column of 'The Times,' and it seemed to him that the sooner he and the young man on the other side of the table were beyond the range of inquisitive eyes the better.
But, so far as Stagg could see, no one appeared to be watching them, and, indeed, most of the diners had disappeared by this time. Stagg bent forward and laid his hand impressively on the stranger's arm.