franklin edgar - in and out

8/12/2019 Franklin Edgar - In and Out

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The Project Gutenberg EBook of In And Out

by Edgar Franklin

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Title: In And Out

Author: Edgar Franklin

Illustrator: Paul Stahr

Release Date: August 9, 2010 [EBook#33392]

Language: English


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IN AND OUT ***

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IN AND OUT


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BY EDGAR

FRANKLIN

Frontispiece by PAUL

STAHR

NEWYORK

W. J. WATT& COMPANY

PUBLISHERS

COPYRIGHT, 1917, BYW. J. WATT & COMPANY

PRESS OF

BRAUNWORTH & CO.


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BOOK MANUFACTURERS

BROOKLYN, N. Y.


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The girl weighed, perhaps,

one hundred and twenty

pounds, and handling thatamount of weight was a mere

joke to Wilkins


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CONTENTS

CHAPTER I. The Great Unrecognized

CHAPTER II. Theory's Victim

CHAPTER III. Opportunity

CHAPTER IV. The Reluctant One

CHAPTER V. The Wee Sma' Hours

CHAPTER VI. Johnson Boller Proposes

CHAPTER VII. The ButterflyCHAPTER VIII. Scorned

CHAPTER IX. Crime?

CHAPTER X. The Web

CHAPTER XI. The Other LadyCHAPTER XII. The Crash

CHAPTER XIII. In the Box

CHAPTER XIV. Concerning Thre

Groups


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CHAPTER XV. Thick and Fast

CHAPTER XVI. The Lie


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IN AND OUT


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CHAPTER I

The Great Unrecognized

Up in the ring, the long-nosed person whhad been announced as Kid Horrigan wa

having things much his own way with th

smaller person billed as the Bron

Tornado.

t was the wont of Kid Horrigan to step

forward lightly, to rap the Tornado

smartly on the bridge of the nose, anhereafter to step back as lightly and wai

until the few wild blows had fanned th

air and the Tornado had returned to hi

meaningless and somewhat bewildere


15/575

crouch.

Thereupon, in almost preoccupied fashion

he Kid stepped forward once moreanwhen he had done it again and again th

performance began to grow monotonou

and, down in Box B at the ringside

Johnson Boller yawned aloud.

The yawn finished, he leaned ove

wearily and addressed Anthony Fry.

"If that little wheeze had the pep of a dea

mosquito," said Johnson Bolle

disgustedly, "he'd take that big stiff whe

his hands are up like that and slip him auppercut that would freeze him solid!"

Anthony Fry's intellectual features relaxe

n a faint smile.


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"He's had several chances, hasn't he?" h

mused.

"Several? He's had fifty! He gets three minute andwell, look at that!"

"Yes, he missed another opportunity then

didn't he?" said Anthony. "Curious!"

Johnson Boller's cigar rolled to the othe

side of his mouth and he hunched dow

farther in his chair.

"And nine more rounds of it to go!" h

sighed.

Anthony Fry merely smiled morpensively and nodded, removing his nose

glasses and tapping his teeth reflectivel

and, among other things, causing th

red-faced, partially alcoholized tri


17/575

behind them in Box B to wonder what h

was doing at a prize fight anyway.

As externals go, there was some grounfor the wonder. Anthony Fry at forty-five

was very tall, very lean in his aristocrati

way, and very, very dignified, from the

crown of his high-held head to the tips ohis toes. In dress he was utterly beyon

criticism; in feature he was thin, austere

and impressive. At first glance one migh

have fancied him a world-famous surgeoor the inscrutable head of the Steel Trust

but the fact of the matter was that Anthony

hese fifteen years gone, had inherite

Fry's Imperial Liniment, with all that thamplied.

t implied a good deal in the way o

ncome, yet even among his friend


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Anthony did not care to have the linimen

phase of his quietly elegant existenc

dwelt upon too insistently. Not that h

regarded the businessrun by a perfecmanager and rarely visitedas a secre

shame exactly, but unquestionabl

Anthony would have preferred that his lat

father and his two dead uncles, whestarting their original pursuit of wealth

had corraled the world's diamond suppl

or purchased Manhattan Island at

bargain.

Just now, perhaps, Anthony's more

striking features were emphasized by th

nearness of Johnson Boller, one of his fewreally intimate friends.

Johnson Boller's age was just about th

same, but there the similarity betwee


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hem stopped short.

Johnson Boller was plump, one migh

almost say coarse. Where Anthony walkedwith slow dignity, Johnson swaggered

Where Anthony spoke in a measured

undertone and smiled frigidly, Johnso

humped out the words and laughed with bark. About most things except food h

was inclined to be gloomy an

pessimistic, and this evening the gloo

within was even thicker than usuabecause Johnson Boller's wife had lef

him.

She was a new wife and his firstbeautiful and spirited wife, all of fiftee

years younger than Johnson Boller. Sh

was in love with him and he with her

remendouslyand now she was gone


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After only six months of unalloye

happiness in the five-thousand-dolla

apartment on Riverside Drive, Mrs

Johnson Boller had left for her annuavisit of one month to the sister whos

accursed husband owned great chunks o

Montreal, Quebec, and insisted on livin

on one of them.

One vast hour Johnson Boller had roame

he vacuum that had been their ideal home

hen he had packed his grip and gone tstay with Anthony Fry, in that utte

ultimate of everything impeccable an

expensive in the way of bachelo

apartments, the Hotel Lasandeand evehe sight of the fight tickets, whe

Anthony's invaluable Wilkins had returned

with them, had failed to bring more than


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flitting smile to Johnson Boller.

ow they were watching the secon

preliminary bout, and could he but havraded one thousand of these bouts for

single hour with his beloved Beatrice

Johnson Boller would have gladly.

"In the main," said Anthony Fry, "tha

absurd little chap up there typifies m

whole conception of opportunity."

"Huh?" Johnson Boller said.

"The chance for that fatal uppercut is ther

it was there a minute ago and it will b

here a minute hence, and probably twminutes hence. Our Tornado hasn't seen i

yet; he may go to the end of the ten round

and never see it, and yet, unless thi


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Horrigan chap changes his tactics, it wil

be repeated again and again. Would he se

t if the bout ran twenty rounds?"

"How the dickens should I know?

Johnson Boller muttered.

"I'd be quite willing to wager," Anthony

smiled thoughtfully, "that he wouldsee it!

Johnson Boller surveyed his frien

narrowly. It was obvious that Anthony'

attention had strayed from the allege

battleand small wonder! It was equall

obvious that Anthony's mind wa

wandering off into the abstract; and no

nfrequently these little journeys

provided they went not too farwer

quite entertaining.


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remendous capability, in many cases, fo

hat matter. Taken by and large, we are al

made of much the same stuff, you know

The trouble lies in the failure of the plainaverage, reasonably stupid citizen t

recognize opportunity's one solitar

knock!" Anthony smiled, growing himsel

more interested by the second. "Now, iopportunity were but decent enough t

knock twice, at least double the number o

striving humans would recognize he

nearness and grasp her. If she could brin

herself to knock three times, say, ou

successes would be tripled. If"

"And if she knocked a thousand times isuccession, everybody'd be a millionaire,

Johnson Boller suggested.

"Something like that," smiled Anthony


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"The chap who does know opportunity

recognizes her mainly by accident,

honestly believe. Now, if we could bu

ake each man and place opportunitbefore him and hold her there until he full

understood that she was present, the wor

failure would be omitted from th

dictionaries a generation hence."

Anthony Fry winked rapidly, which i

tself was rather a bad sign because i

ndicated that the theorizing portion of hicultured brain was growing quite rapt. A

another time, very likely, Johnson Bolle

would have heeded the warning an

urned Anthony's attention gently back tohe fight; but to-night Boller sought refug

from the haunting loneliness that Beatric

had left behind.


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"I don't agree with you!" he said flatly.

"Eh?"

"Nix!" said Johnson Boller. "Any guy whocan come face to face with a regula

honest-to-goodness opportunity, Anthony

and not know her inside of one second

could have her tied to his right leg for tw

hundred years and never know she wa

here."

"You really believe that?"

"Oh, I know it!" said Johnson Boller. "

have several millions of years of huma

experience to prove that I'm right."

Anthony leaned closer, causing the larges

of the red-faced trio behind to grow

senselessly as he was forced to shift for


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view of the ring.

"Let us assume, Johnson, the individua

A," said Anthony. "A wished to become aawyer; he had his chance and missed it

We will assume him to be peculiarly

stupid; we will say that he had opportunit

for the second timeand again failed tgrasp her. Can you think that, deliberatel

ed up to his third opportunity of becomin

a lawyer, A will turn his back for the third

ime?"

"Certainly," said Johnson Boller, withou

hought and solely because Anthony'

precise driveling interested him a littlmore than the affair of the ring.

"Pah!" Mr. Fry said angrily.


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Just here Mr. Horrigan slipped whil

making his nth jab at the Tornado's nose

slipped and fell upon the Tornado's fis

and thereafter reeled about for a fewseconds. Johnson Boller emitted his firs

real laugh of the evening; Anthony Fry

who had not seen the incident, failed eve

o smile.

"It would be interesting," he said crisply

"to select a subject, Johnson, and try th

experiment."

"What experiment?"

"That of learning just how many time

opportunity must be presented to th

average individual to secure ful

recognition of her presence and he

beauties."


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"Wouldn't it?" mused Johnson Bolle

absently.

"I mean, to reach haphazard into the simillions that go to make up New York, to

pick just one individual and segregat

him, and then show himopportunity! To

ake him aside, where there is nothing elso distract him, and thrust opportunity i

his very facethe opportunity, whateve

t might be, that he has always desired. I

seems to me, Johnson, that watching thaexperiment might be distinctly wort

while!"

"Aha!" yawned Johnson Boller.

"So, therefore," Anthony said placidly

"we will find our subject and make th

experiment."


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This time, and with a considerable jar

Johnson Boller awoke to the fact tha

danger was at his elbow!

He sat bolt upright and stared at Anthony

Fry, and in the queerest way his fles

crawled for a moment and his hand

urned cold, for he knew that expression oAnthony's all too well. Intent, wholl

absorbed, that expression indicated that

however ridiculous the proposition migh

be, its fangs had fastened in Anthony'very soul!

This was the expression which recalled

oh, so clearlythe dread time wheAnthony Fry had become obsessed wit

he idea that crime is a matter of diet an

external impression, when he had secure

he two yeggmen and established the


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where he could watch and feed them

when, eventually, he had been forced to

pay for their crowning crime or go to jai

as an accomplice!

This was the expression that brought bac

he period in which Anthony had

cherished the theory that music's true geray in the negro race, properly guided an

separated from all outside influences an

well, this was the expression, fas

enough, and Boller's throat tightened. Hhad not even found words of protest whe

Anthony pursued:

"And upon my soul! See how the thing habeen prearranged for us!"

"What?"


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"To that man," said Anthony, "I shall offer

opportunity!"

"What d'ye mean? Money?" JohnsoBoller asked incredulously.

"It will involve money, doubtless; I ca

afford a little."

"Well, you go and poke a handful of bill

nto a man's face and all you're going t

prove is that"

"I have no idea of doing anything of th

sort," Anthony said impatiently. "What

purpose doing is simply this: I shall"

Johnson Boller had recovered from th

first shock. He drew a long, deep breath

and, leaning over to his old friend, place

a firm, strong hand on his knee and looke


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"My dear chap!" Anthony laughed.

"Don't laugh; I know what I'm talkin

about," Mr. Boller went on, feverishlalmost. "You wait till we get home

Anthony, and we'll talk over all this abou

opportunity and get it settled. For th

matter of that, I can see now that you'rdead right!" Johnson Boller said, an

here was something almost pathetic in hi

voice. "You're dead right, Anthony! Al

you have to do is to stick opportunitbefore a man long enough and he's boun

o chuck a hammerlock into her and sla

her down to the mat for keeps! So that'

settled, and we don't have to do anexperimenting with human subjects. Or i

you do have to have a live one to work on

wait till we get home and we'll tak


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Wilkins, Anthony! That'd be better

anyway."

He paused, eying his old friend with deeanxiety. Anthony Fry, having thrown back

his head, laughed heartily.

"Johnson," said he, "the whole troubl

with that poor old head of yours is that i

s absolutely without the power o

visualization! It knows the wool business

t makes thousands and thousands odollars out of the wool business; but t

save its very life it cannot reach out int

he abstract!"

"It doesn't want to reach into the abstract!

"Well, it should, because it will grow

more and more stodgy if it doesn't," Mr


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Fry said complacently. "Good gracious

Johnson! Coming to life! Just conside

what may be coming to this seat!"

"I don't dare!" Johnson Boller sai

honestly.

"An old man, perhapsone who fancie

his opportunities all past and done for

What more vitally interesting tha

hrusting opportunity upon such a man

Johnson?"

"So far as I'm concerned, anything unde

he sun and"

"Or perhaps a middle-aged failure,Anthony rambled on. "A man just past th

age when hope is richesta man who ha

seen his chances come and go. I don


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know, Johnson, but I rather believe tha

'm hoping for a middle-aged man."

"Yes, one that's weak enough to gagbefore he can yell for the police," Johnso

Boller grunted. "Now, Anthony, before

you"

"Or best of all, perhaps, an average youn

man," smiled the experimenter. "Tha

would really be the most interesting sor

of subject, Johnsonjust a plain chap, nofully matured, not soured b

disappointment nor rendered to

sophisticated by contact with the world

On the whole, I really hope that a younman is coming!"

And now, for a time, Johnson Boller said

nothing at all. There was always th


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chance that Anthony might work it out o

his system in talkthere was the othe

chance, growing rosier and rosier by th

minute, that the odd chair had not beesold at all.

t was rather queer, when one considered

hat seats for this particular star bout habeen at a premium for a week, but it wa

nevertheless the fact that the preliminar

arguments were over and the announce

spinning his megaphoned tale for the bibattle, and the seat still unoccupied. To

Johnson Boller it even hinted at th

existence of a special Providenc

designed to watch the doings of such aAnthony Fry.

The minutes were wearing along, too. Th

cheering was done with and th


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megaphone had left the ring. Seconds an

rainers were climbing down through th

ropes, and the principals were listenin

boredly to the final words of instructionAnd now the gong had struck and the

were at itand still the odd chair in Bo

B remained unoccupied.

"Opportunity!" mused Anthony Fry. "The

Great Unrecognized!"

"Eh?"

"The Great Unrecognized," Anthon

repeated complacently. "Not a bad ter

for her, eh?"

Johnson Boller made a last survey of th

neighborhood, permitted himself a sigh o

relief, and grinned broadly at his ol


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friend.

"Great term, Anthony!" he agreed genially

"He isn't coming!""He'll be here yet," Anthony smiled.

"Not now," Boller chuckled. "No ma

gives up ten or fifteen dollars for one ohese seats and then stays away for an

reason save death. Your victim was hit by

a motor-truck on the way hereand at tha

he may be getting off easier than if you'

caught him and tried some psychologica

experiments on him."

And here Mr. Boller stretched andremoved his cigar, so that his grin migh

spread from ear to ear.

"It only goes to show you, Anthony, tha


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here's some power watching over peopl

ike you and governing their affairs, that i

past our understanding. Now, if that poo

unknown devil had ever turned up an"

He stopped short.

n Anthony Fry's eye the blue-white fire o

enthusiasm glinted out suddenly. Hal

rising, Mr. Fry gazed down the vast place

and then, with a smile, sat back again aneyed his friend.

"Something's wrong with your power

Johnson," said he. "Here he comes now!"


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CHAPTER II

Theory's Victim

Johnson Boller looked. And, looking, thpleased grin which had so lately suffuse

his features faded out swiftlybecaus

he unknown really seemed to be wit

hem.

Far down the mob, an attendant of th

place was indicating their genera

direction to a shortish man in a lonstorm-coat; and now he of the coat ha

nodded and was pushing his way down th

narrow aisle toward them, staring at th

sea of faces as he moved along slowly an


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seeming a little uncertain in hi

movements.

"Anthony!" Johnson Boller said suddenly.

"Well?"

"Don't speak to this guy! I don't like hi

ooks!"

"Bah!"

"And this gang behind us is doineverything but watch the fight," Mr. Bolle

whispered on. "If you try anything funn

on this fellow that's coming, he's likely t

put up a yell of some kindand once fight starts in this box these three behin

are coming in."

"Johnson, don't be absurd," Anthon


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smiled. "Get over in the odd seat; I wan

he chap next to me so that I can have

good look at him."

"Will you remember that I said you wer

going to start trouble?" Johnson inquire

hotly.

"I'll remember anything you like, only ge

over into that odd seat," Mr. Fry muttered

as the stranger came closer. "Ah, he'

hardly more than a boy."

"Yes, he's a young thug!" Johnson Bolle

nformed him in parting. "He's a youn

gang-leader, Anthonylook at the walk

Look at the way he has that cap pulle

down over one eye! Look at"

Anthony Fry, obviously, would have hear


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him as well had he been seated on th

steps of Colorado's State capito

ntellectual countenance alight, the mildl

eccentric Anthonyreally the sanest andmost delightful of men except when thes

abstract notions came to himwas wholl

absorbed in the newcomer.

Rather than stare directly he turned towar

he ring as the young man in the long coa

crowded into the box and settled dow

with a little puff, but one who knew him awell as Johnson Boller could fee

Anthony's eyes looking past his lean righ

cheek and taking in every detail of theory'

prospective victim.

ot that he was a particularly savage

ooking creature on closer inspection

however. The cheap cloth cap and th


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shabby long coatheavy enough for

yphoon when there was the meres

suggestion of drizzle outdoorsgave on

hat impression at first, but seconexamination showed him to be reall

rather mild.

He seemed to be about twenty. Hiclothing, from the overcoat to the trouser

and the well-worn shoes, indicated that h

came from no very elevated plane o

society. His features, which seemeddecidedly boyish among some of the face

present, were decidedly good. His hai

needed cutting and had needed it, for som

ime, and he was tremendously interesten the star bout. Elbows on the rail, cap

pulled down to shade his eyes, th

youngster's whole excited soul seeme


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centered in the ring.

So at a rather easy guess Mr. Bolle

concluded that he was a mechanic or anitor's assistant or an elevator boy o

something like that. The buyer of his seat

finding himself unable to come at the las

moment, had given the kid his ticket anhe was having the time of his life.

Johnson Boller hunched down again wit

a sad little grunt. He had meant to enjohis star bout; only a week ago, in fac

before the Montreal horror loomed up, h

had been considering just how an evenin

might be snatched from the happy homife without disturbing Beatricewho

gnorant of modern pugilism, disapprove

prize-fighting on the ground of brutality

And now it was ruined, because Johnso


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Boller's next half hour would have to go t

he devising of means by which Anthon

could be steered from his idioti

experiment, whatever it might be iconcrete form.

Anthony meant to offer this youngste

opportunityhow or in what forAnthony himself doubtless did not know

as yet. But he did intend to speak to hi

and, unless Johnson Boller's faculty fo

guessing was much in error, he meant toead the youngster hence, perhaps to fee

him in a restaurant while he talked hi

full of abstract theory, perhaps even to

ake him home to the Lasande.

But whatever he intended, it wouldn't do

Johnson Boller really needed Anthony thi

night. He needed Anthony to listen whil


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he talked about the absent Beatrice, an

recalled all her beauty, all her fire, all he

adorable qualities; he needed Anthony a

he other side of the chessboard, ovewhich game Johnson Boller could grow s

profoundly sleepy that even Beatrice e

route to Siam would hardly hav

disturbed him. And he needed no thirdperson!

Toward the end of the fifth round

however, Johnson Boller grew painfullconscious that he had as yet concocted n

very promising scheme. Indeed, the lon

nspiration so far included whispering t

he kid that the gentleman on his other sidwas mildly insane and that flight wer

best, should the gentleman address him

but Anthony persisted in leaning so clos


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o the youngster that whispering wa

mpossible.

Also, it occurred to Johnson Boller that hhimself might be taken violently illtha

he might clutch his heart and beg Anthon

o lead him to the outer air. There wa

ittle in that, though; the chances wermore than even that Anthony, if hi

enthusiasm as to the victim still persisted

would request the youngster's assistanc

n getting him out.

And the enthusiasm seemed endurin

enough. They were in the tenth and las

round now and Anthony, with his strangesmile, was turning to the young man and

ah, yes, he was speaking:

"Pardon me!"


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The boy started with undue violence an

stared at him, drew back a little and eve

ooked Anthony up and down as he said:

"Speaking to me?"

"I am speaking to you, young man,

Anthony smiled benignly. "May I speak to

you a little more?"

This, very evidently, was a sensitive boy

unaccustomed to chatting with reall

elegant, palpably prosperous strangers

The startled eyes ran over Anthony agai

and a frown came into them.

"What's the idea?" he asked briefly.

"There is a very large idea, which

should like to make clear to you," Mr. Fr

went on smoothly. "I should like to have


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alk with you, young mannot here, o

course, but when the fight is overand i

will be to your considerable advantag

"

"I don't want to buy anything," the cann

young man informed him.

"And I don't want to sell you anything,

Anthony laughed, "but I do wish to presen

o you a proposition which will be o

much interest."

This time, possibly not without warran

he boy shrank unmistakably from him

hitching his collar a little higher and hi

cap a little farther down.

"It wouldn't interest me," he said wit

some finality. "I'mjust a poor lad, you


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know, and I haven't a cent to invest i

anything."

"But you have an hour to invest, perhaps?Anthony smiled.

"Nope!"

"Oh, yes, you have," the owner of Fry'mperial Liniment persisted. "It is for n

purpose of my own, save perhaps t

ustify a small contention, but I wish yo

o come home with me for a little while."

"What?" said the boy.

As Johnson Boller observed, sighinheavily and shaking his head as h

observed it, the young man was downrigh

scared now. An older citizen would have

spoken his candid thoughts to Anthon


55/575

Fry, doubtless, and chilled him back to

reason; but this one drew away fro

Anthony until he bumped into Johnso

Boller, turned hastily and asked the latter'pardon and then gazed at Anthony wit

eyes which, if not filled with terror

certainly held a quantity of somewha

amused apprehension.

He shook his head determinedly an

seemed to be seeking words, and as h

sought them a new element entered thsituation. The red-faced person jus

behind Anthony Fry, having gazed

suddenly from the youngster to the make

of theories, lurched forward suddenly anspoke:

"Let that kid alone!"


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"Eh?" Anthony said amazedly.

Johnson Boller leaned forward quickly.

"Stop right there, Anthony!" he hissed"Don't answer him!"

"Why on earth shouldn't I answer him?

Anthony snapped.

"You keep out of it, young feller!" the red

faced one told Johnson Boller, and on

saw that his honest rage was rising fast"He's gotter let that kid alone!"

"Well, confound your impudence, sir!

Anthony began. "I"

"None o' that stuff!" the total stranger sai

hotly. "You cut out picking on the kid o

'll step on your face."


57/575

And here his redder-faced companio

eaned forward and demanded thickly:

"Woddy do ter kid, Joe? Huh? Wozzermatterhuh? Wozzer trouble 'th you

huh?"

Johnson Boller was on his feet and in th

aisle, perturbed and still able to see how

he unexpected had been planned for hi

especial benefit.

"This is where we get off, Anthony," he

said briefly, "I could smell it coming

Come along."

"Is there going to be a fight here?" the bon the chair between asked, with a quantit

of eager excitement.

"If I know the signs, ten seconds hence thi


58/575

spot is going to look like a detail of th

Battle of the Marne," said Mr. Boller

"And you want to get out of it quick o

you'll be hurt, kid. You scoot right downhat way, the way you came, and get clea

of the crowd before it starts."

He pointed. He waited. But the boy dinot start.

Who, in the calmer afterward, shal

explain just how these gunpowdesituations develop, grow instantaneousl

ncandescent, and explode?

The atmosphere was one of physica

battle; the red-faced gentlemen were fille

with alcoholic spirits; yet who shall sa

ust why the red-faced man, his frien

stumbling against him, gained th


59/575

mpression that Anthony Fry had struc

him a coward's blow from behind? O

why, with a roar of incoherent fury, he

aimed a dreadful punch at Anthonhimself, standing there quite collected i

somewhat paler?

That is what happened, although by nmeans all that happened. The unfortunat

spot came three seconds later whe

Anthony, side-stepping the alcoholized

ab, threw up his hands to fend off thabber's whole swaying personthrew

hem, all unwittingly, so that his right fis

settled squarely on a red nose, drawin

herefrom a magic spurt of blood!

After that, for a little, nothing was ver

clear. Three sets of fists began to hamme

n Anthony's general direction; thre


60/575

hroats shoutedand three hundred too

up the shout.

Men came tumbling toward Box B annto it. A large person in bright blue shirt

sleeves, with a derby on the back of hi

head, received the third blow intended fo

Anthony and returned it with interest, jusas that startled person was jammed agains

he rail.

From three different points, high-helnight-sticks were pushing through th

surging crowd; and Johnson Boller

ooking quickly at the storm center

counted no less than eleven separatcouples pounding one another, and smiled

as he jerked Anthony bodily over the rai

and hissed:


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"Come on, you poor lunatic! Come on!"

"Johnson, upon my soul" Anthon

began."Never mind your soul! Get your body ou

of here before the cops find it and club i

o death for starting this rumpus!" Mr

Boller cried agitatedly. "Look at tha

sergeant, Anthony! He's got his eye on yo

and he's fighting his way over here! Now

you scoot down there, kid! Move! Quickbefore"

"No! Come with us, boy!" Anthony said

somewhat disconcertingly.

"What for?" the boy inquired. "I want t

watch this."

"You stay and watch it by all means!


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Johnson Boller smiled quickly. "You're

perfectly safe, youngster; I was onl

fooling. Now you come this way, Anthony

and"

Anthony, unperturbed, laid a kindly hand

on the youngster's shoulder.

"You'd better come with us, my son," said

he. "They'll run you in for a witness an

you may be locked up for a week unles

you have friends to get you out."

This time he had startled the young man

Wide eyes turned and stared at him and

here was a distinct note of fright in th

voice that said:

"What do you mean? Arrest me?"

"Of course, if you stay here," Anthon


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said. "Come with me and I'll take care o

you."

And then Johnson Boller had caught hiarm and was dragging him away; an

Anthony, catching the willing arm of th

boy, was dragging him after. Around the

side of the ring they sped, where anterested group of fighters and trainer

watched the mle; and, veering, o

hrough a small side door and into th

night.

"Here's where the taxis wait," Mr. Bolle

said quickly. "Now, you beat it straigh

down the street, kid, and"

"We'll take this one," Anthony interrupted

as he jerked open the door and thrust hi

bewildered charge inward. "Tell the man


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o take us home, Johnson."

Johnson Boller complied with a grun

slamming the door viciously as hplumped into his own seat. The kid

prospective victim of Anthony's lates

notion, was still with themand h

seemed contented enough to be there fohe present. The possibility of arrest ha

arred the youngster more than a little, an

he hunched down on the little forward sea

and breathed quite heavily. And nowAnthony's deep, kindly voice wa

addressing him with

"You'll come home with me for a littlewhile, youngster?"

Mr. Boller drew a long, resigned breat

and prepared to back the boy in ever


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objection his doubtless normal min

should offerbut they chanced to paus

by an arc lamp just then and he caught th

boy's expression.

t was really a queer thing to see. No fea

was there at all now, but only th

overwhelming, innocent curiosity of youthmingled with an inscrutable somethin

else. One might have called it a daredevi

ight, breathing the young craving fo

adventure, but Johnson Boller, with aunaccountable shudder, felt that it was no

ust that.

To save him, he could not have named thequality; he sensed it rather than actuall

saw it, but it was there just the samea

ominous, mocking, speculative amusemen

hat had no place at all in the eye of a


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elevator boy when looking at the wealthy

dignified Anthony Fry. The boy's fine teet

showed for a moment as he asked:

"Pardon me, but what's it all about? Wh

under the sun should I go home with you?"

"Because I want to talk confidentially t

you for an hour."

"You're not judging from these togs tha

'm a criminal, are you?" the boy grinned

and it seemed to Johnson Boller that th

one was far too cultivated for the clothes

"What?"

"I mean, you don't want any one murdered

or anything of that kind?"

Anthony laughed richly.


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"By no means, my dear boy. As to what i

s all about I'll tell you when we get there

You'll come?"

"I think not," the boy said frankly.

"But"

"Nix! I don't know why, but I don't like thdea. I think it's a little bit too unusua

Who are you, anyway?"

"My name is Fry, if that tells yoanything," smiled its owner.

"Fry?" the boy repeated.

"Anthony Fry."

"Eh?" the youngster said, and there was

peculiarly sharp note in his voice.


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"He makes Fry's Liniment," Johnso

Boller put in disgustedly, yet happil

withal because it was plain that the bo

would have no part in spoiling his chesgame and the little chat about Beatrice

"He has a lot of theories not connecte

with the liniment business, kid, and h

wants to bore you to death with some ohem. They wouldn't interest you any mor

han they interest me, and you're perfectl

right in refusing to listen to them."

"Umum," said the boy oddly.

"And now I'll tell you what we'll do,

Johnson Boller concluded quite happily"You tell me where you live, and when th

man drops us I'll pay your fare home

Some class to that, eh? Going home in

axicab after sitting in a ten-dollar seat a


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a big fight! You don't get off on a

amboree like that very often, I'll bet!"

"No," the boy said thoughtfully."So here's the little old Hotel Lasand

where Mr. Fry lives," Mr. Boller finished

cheerfully, "and where shall I tell the ma

o set you down, kid?"

He had settled the matter, of course

ever in this world could the littl

ragamuffin resist the temptation o

returning to his tenement home, o

whatever it was, in a taxi. Johnson Boller

rising as the vehicle stopped, laid a kindl

hand on his shoulder.

"Now, you sit over in my seat and stretc

your legs while you ride, kidand here


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Have a real cigar and feel like a rea

sport! Don't you know how to bite off th

end?"

"II don't want to bite off the end yet,

he boy muttered.

"Sink your teeth in it. Now I'll get you

match."

He felt for one, did Johnson Boller, and

hen ceased feeling for one. That sudde

ow laugh of the young man's was one o

he oddest sounds he had ever heard

moreover, as the Lasande doorma

opened the door of the taxi, he caught th

same odd light in the boy's eyeand now

he, too, had risen and pulled th

disreputable cap a little lower as he said:


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"I won't smoke it now, thanks. I'm goin

upstairs and listen to Mr. Fry for a while

think."


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CHAPTER III

Opportunity

The Hotel Lasande deserves a word owo. In the strict sense it is no hotel at all

being merely a twenty-story pile of fou

and fiveand even seven and eight

room bachelor suites of the very highesclass. Moving into the Lasande an

assuming one of its breath-stopping lease

s a process not unlike breaking into th

most exclusive sort of club. One i

nvestigated, which tells it all. Th

Lasande, catering to the very best an

most opulent of the bachelor class, ha


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nothing else beneath its roof.

Silent men servants, functioning perfectl

despite their apparent woodenness, flieverywhere, invisible until needed

disappearing instantly when the task of th

moment is done. There are dining-room

for the few who do not dine in the privacof their own apartments, and there is

ong, comfortable lobby where, under th

eagle eye of the clerk in the corner, only

enants or guests of tenants may lounge.

nto this latter area came Anthony Fry and

Johnson Boller and the boy, and as th

peculiarly intelligent eyes of the lattedarted about it seemed to Mr. Boller tha

heir twinkle turned to a positive glitter.

t was absurd enough, it hailed doubtles


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"That's just my last name," the boy smiled

"First name's David."

"David Prentiss, eh?" Anthony murmuredwith some satisfaction, for it had

substantial sound. "Well, Davider

Hitchin, how are you? Mr. Hitchin, m

young friend, Mr. David Prentiss."

The boy's hand went out and grippe

Hitchin's heartily enough. Mr. Hitchin hel

t for a moment and peered at Davidanone saw what a really penetrating stare h

owned.

t bored, as a point of tempered ice

wordlessly accusing one of murder

counterfeiting, bank burglary and plai

second-story work. Frequently dee

students of the higher detective fictio


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you, Fry?"

"My guest," Anthony said annoyedly; and

hen the car came down and the dooopened and they left Mr. Hitchin, but th

boy cocked an eye at Anthony and asked

flatly:

"What was the idea of thatstaying wit

you? I'm not staying with you."

"You may decide to stay for a little."

"Not me," said David.

"We shall see," Anthony chuckled. "This

s our floor."

Wilkinsthe priceless, faultless Wilkin

who had been with Anthony for sixtee

yearsopened the door and, even thoug


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he were Wilkins, started a trifle at th

sight of David and his cap. He flushed fo

he start, to be sure, as his master move

nto the big living-room with his superdignity, but when he had taken cap and

coat and examined the suit beneath

Wilkins shook his head mentally. One

shock had come that evening in thknowledge that Johnson Boller, who

Wilkins did not approve, was to be wit

hembut this young ruffian!

"Make yourself at home, David," Anthon

smiled. "We'll shed our coats and find ou

smoking jackets."

Johnson Boller with him, he moved to th

corner bedroom, to face his old frien

with:


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"Well, what do you think of him?"

"He's a bad egg," Johnson Boller sai

readily. "I don't like his eye and the wahe swaggers would get him six months i

any court in town. Say whatever it is th

devilish impulse prompts you to say an

hen fire him before he pinches the silver.

"Bosh!" Anthony said testily. "The boy'

awed and self-consciousthe swagger i

assumed to cover that, of course. I meawhat, in your decidedly inferior judgment

s his fitness as a subject for experiment

Will he know opportunity when she is firs

set before him or will it be necessary tpresent her repeatedly?"

Johnson Boller laughed harshly and stare

hard at his old friend. Under certai


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conditions, even the empty apartment o

Riverside Drive might not be so bad.

"Say!" he demanded. "Are you going tkeep that little rat here and argue with hi

ill he admits that he recognizes whateve

opportunity you're going to thrust at him?"

"Essentially that."

"Well, if it's an opportunity to earn an

honest living, he'll never see itand if th

chatter takes more than an hour I'm goin

home!" Johnson Boller snapped. "I'd hav

stayed there if I'd known you were goin

off into the abstract, Anthony. I wanted to

alk to you and have a little game of ches

and a bottle of ale and"

Anthony smiled serenely.


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"And the mere fact that a train of thought

only slightly unusual, has entered you

evening, has upset your whole being

hasn't it? Well, it'll do you good to heaand watch something different. This bo

will see opportunity before I'm done wit

him, Johnson, and the longer it takes th

sounder my general hypothesis will havbeen proven."

Curiously enough, David had lost much o

his grinning assurance when they rejoinehim. The impudence had left his eye an

he boy seemed downright uneasy. H

started and rose at the sight of them, an

his quick, nervous smile lingered only moment as he said:

"I think I'd better be going after all, Mr

Fry. It's pretty late and"


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and shut them again and ended with a mer

erk of a nod.

"How about schooling, David? You'vebeen through high school?"

"Eryes."

"And have you a profession?" Anthonpursued.

"No, I haven't any profession?" the bo

muttered.

"But you're working, of course?" Mr. Fr

asked sharply.

"What? Oh, yes," said David.

"At some mechanical line?"

"Oh, yes," David said.


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"In just what line, then?"

And now, had Anthony but been watching

some of Johnson Boller's suspicions mushave seemed justified. There was n

question about the way David's ver

ntelligent eyes were acting now; the

darted furtively, wildly almost, from sido side, as if the boy were seeking escape

They darted toward Anthony and awa

from him and back to David's shabby sui

and worn shoes.

"I'm aplumber's helper!" the boy sai

gustily.

"Wait a second, kid!" Mr. Boller put in

"Let me see those hands!"

"Well, theythey haven't had time to ge


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roughened up yet!" David said quickly. "

ust went to work yesterday."

"The boy's lying, Anthony!" Mr. Bollesaid bluntly.

"I don't lie, Mr."

"Boller," Anthony supplied. "And pleasedon't badger the boy, Johnson."

"I'm not badgering him," said Johnso

Boller; "only that kid's hands look morike a society queen's than an hones

workingman's."

"They may be hands designed for bettehings. David! Tell me, are you quite

satisfied to be a plumber's helper, or wa

t the only thing you could find in the wa

of employment?"


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"It was all I could find," David muttered

glancing at the door. And then, with hi

quick smile, he rose again. "I'd like to si

here and answer questions, Mr. Fry, bu'll have to run along and"

Anthony beamed at him over his glasses

fidgeting there with the impatience oyouth, standing on one foot and then on th

other. Anthony turned and beamed at the

bookcase beside him, and selecting

volume, beamed at that, too.

"David," said he, "will you be seated lon

enough to hear a little poem?"

"What?"

"It is a very short poem, and one of m

favorites," Anthony mused, and his stare a


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David grew quite hypnotic. "Ah, here it i

a little, wonderfully big poem by th

ate Senator John Ingalls. It is calle

'Opportunity.'"

"Aha!" David said rather stupidly.

"And now, listen," said Anthony, clearing

his throat.


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"Master of human destinies am I!"

He paused and sent the hypnotic smil

drilling into David."'Master of human destinies!'" h

repeated. "That, in itself, means a ver

great deal, does it not?"

"I guess so," David muttered dazedly, and

however briefly, Johnson Boller almos

iked him for the look he directed a

Anthony's bowed head.

"Fame, love, and fortune on my

footsteps wait,

Cities and fields I walk; Ipenetrate

Deserts and seas remote, and

passing by


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Hovel and mart and palace, soon

or late

I knock unbidden once at every

gate!"

"Once," concluded Anthony, "at every

gate. Once, David!"

"Yes, I've heard that poem before," said

David, who was examining the rug.

Johnson Boller laughed in a ric

undertone. Anthony flushed, and his voic

rose a little as he continued:

"If feasting, rise; if sleeping,

wake beforeI turn away. It is the hour of

fate

And they who follow me


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Condemned to failure, penury, or

woe,

Seek me in vain and ceaselessly

implore;I answer not and I returnno

more!"

Almost reverently the book closed.

"Have you quite assimilated the ful

meaning of that little poem, David?" h

asked gravely.

"Eryes."

"Quite?" Anthony persisted.

"Why, I guess so," David said, eye

opening again. "Yes, I know I haveonly

don't look at me like that and"


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"Then hear the rest of what I have to say,

Anthony went on quickly an

mpressively, "for now we come to my

reason for bringing you here. David, yoare poor. You are without a profession

without a business of your own. You

brightest hope at present is to become

plumber."

"Say" David began.

"I should have said, your brighteschance," Anthony corrected. "But you

ambition, David, is altogether differen

Your ambition is to becomewhat?"

And now, before the penetrating, hypnoti

eye, David seemed, not without warrant

o have grown downright frightened. H

glanced swiftly at Anthony and at th


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door.

"I don't know," he said breathlessly

"What's the answer?""Well, what do you want to become? A

doctor? A lawyer? A teacher? An

electrician? A journalist? A clergyman? A

painter? An architect? A mining engineer?

A civil engineer? A"

t was plain to Johnson Boller that th

situation was getting beyond David'

doubtless nimble, doubtless crimina

mind. The boy held up an unsteady han

and stayed the flow.

"That's it!" he said hoarsely. "A civi

engineer! You got it out of me, didn't you?

And now I'd better go and"


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His quick, scared grin showed all hi

eeth, and he nodded in the most ridiculou

fashionreally much in the fashion on

might nod at a hopeless lunatic wheagreeing that, as a matter of course, he i

he original Pharaoh. His mental stat

fairly glowed from him; all that Davi

wanted was to leave the Hotel Lasande.

David, in short, was doing just wha

ninety-nine per cent. of the human rac

nsists on doing; even at the hint oopportunity, he was trying to face abou

and escape. But more than that, David

obviously one of the lower classes, wa

reating Anthony Fry with a tolerance thawas more than mere disrespect. He wa

causing Johnson Boller to chuckle wearil

over his cigarand in spite of his purel


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abstract interest, Anthony's color grew

darker and his voice decidedly sharper.

"Sit still," he commanded, "and listen tme. David, up to this evening you had n

real hope of attaining your ambition. I

fine, opportunity to make the goal was no

yours. Now opportunity is yours!"

"Is it?" David said throatily, albeit he did

not resume his seat.

"Because this is what I mean to do fo

you, David; I mean to take you out of you

present humble situation and educate you

mean to have you here to live with me."

"What?" David gasped.

"From this very evening!" Anthony said

firmly, and also astonishingly. "I shal


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outfit you properly and supply you wit

what money you need. I shall have yo

prepared for the best engineering colleg

we can find, and entered there for the moscomplete engineering course. If you ar

helping in the support of your family,

shall pay to them a sum equivalent to you

wages each monthor perhaps a littlmore, if it be essential to removing al

anxiety from your mind. You follow me?"

David merely clutched the edge of his coaand gulped, staring fascinatedly a

Anthony.

"I am reasonably wealthy, and I shall beaevery expense that you may incur, David

When you have graduated, and everythin

hat can be taught you has been taught you

shall establish you in proper offices an


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use my considerable personal influence t

see that you are supplied with work, an

again until you are self-supporting I shal

bear all the expense. In short, David,Anthony concluded, "I am holdin

opportunity before youopportunity t

do, without trouble or worry or delay, th

hing you most desire. Well?"

Even Johnson Boller was mildl

nterested, although only mildly, and wit

a deprecatory smile on his lips. He knewexactly what the boy would do, of course

but it had no connection with Anthony'

crack-brained notion.

David would grab with both hands at thi

kind of opportunity and settle down to

ife of ease, and the chances were that he'

get Anthony to sign something that would


99/575

cost him thousands when he had waked up

and lost interest in the opportunit

proposition.

To Johnson's sleepy and suspicious eye

David looked like a crafty little devil, i

one ever walked.

Yet after a silent thirty second

opportunity, in her gaudiest and mos

conspicuous form, had made no visibl

mpression on David Prentiss. Hibewildered eyes roved from Anthony to

Johnson Boller. Once he seemed about to

augh; again he seemed about to speak; h

did neither.

And the clock struck twelve.

And had a bomb exploded between hi


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poorly shod feet, the effect on Davi

Prentiss could hardly have been mor

striking. He started, and his eyes, dilating

ost their bewilderment and showed plainoverwhelming horror. His mouth opened

with a shout of:

"Was that midnight?"

"Very likely," Anthony said impatiently

"But as to"

"Where's my cap and coat?" Davi

demanded.

"Never mind your cap and coat. I"

"But I do mind 'em!" David cried. "I'v

got to have themquick! Where are they

Where's the man who took them?"


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Anthony merely smiled with waxin

curiosity.

"So you are really rejecting opportunity ahe first knock, eh?" he mused.

And now David stilled his risin

excitement only with a huge effort. H

gripped his chair and looked Anthony i

he eye.

"Opportunity behanged!" he crie

shrilly. "Give me my cap and coat! I wan

o go home!"


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CHAPTER IV

The Reluctant One

One knew Anthony Fry for two or thredecades before quite understanding him

David's great disadvantage, of course

was that he had met Anthony only an hou

or so before. To David, doubtless, thequiet, mysterious, speculative smil

seemed sinister, for he repeated thickly:

"I want mymy cap and my coat an"

"Well, what are you going to do if you

don't get them?" Anthony laughed.


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"What did you say?" David asked quickly

"What if you don't get your coat?"

"Does that mean that you're going to keeme here, whether I want to stay or not?

he boy asked quickly.

"Not just that, perhaps, but it does meahat I'm going to keep you here for a littl

while, David, until you've come to you

senses and"

"I'll yell!" David stated.

"Eh?"

"If you try to keep me here I'll yell unti

everybody in the house comes in to se

what's happening!"


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Anthony laughed quietly.

"Don't be ridiculous, David," he said

"I've lived here for years, and they wilknow perfectly well that I'm not injurin

you in any way."

"Oh!" gasped David.

"So just sit down again and consider wha

have offered you. Sit still for just on

minute and considerand then give m

your answer."

Finger-tips drumming, benevolent gaz

beaming over his glasses, the unusua

Anthony waited. David's scared eyeroved the room, wandered over Johnso

Boller, reading his paper, and finally

settled so steadily on that gentleman tha


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he looked up and, looking, read David'

mind and shrugged his shoulders.

"Your own fault, kid," said he. "I wantedo give you a free ride, but you had t

come up and hear what he had to say."

"Johnson!" Anthony said sharply, "Just le

he youngster's mental processes work th

hing out in their own way."

Half a minute dragged alongyet befor

t was gone one saw clearly that th

mental processes had taken their grip. A

extremely visible change was coming ove

David Prentiss. He gulped down certai

emotions of his own, and presentl

managed to smile, uneasily at first an

hen with a certain confidence. He cleare

his throat and, with a slight huskiness


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addressed Anthony:

"Erdo I understand that you want me t

stay here until I fully appreciate all you'voffered me, Mr. Fry?"

"Virtually that."

"Well, I appreciated that all along; butbut I was sort of worried about it gettin

so late, you know," David said brightly. "

certainly do appreciate it, and I thank yo

very much. Now can I have my coat?"

"Really decided to grip the opportunity

eh?" Anthony asked keenly.

"You bet!"

Johnson Boller laid aside his paper.


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"Now chase him, Anthony!" he said. "He'

standing up and holding the sugar on hi

nose. Slip the kid a five-dollar bill and le

Wilkins"

"Do you really imagine that I'd rouse al

he boy's hopes and then play him

shabby trick like that?" Anthony askedsharply.

"Huh?"

"Most emphatically not!" Mr. Fry said

"I'll play no such shabby trick on th

youngster. He shall have exactly th

chance I promised, and I shall watch th

working out of the idea with the mos

ntense interest. David, I'm going to keep

you here from this minute!"


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"Keep me here?" David echoed blankly.

"Certainly."

David gazed fixedly at the electrolier.

"Well, I'll tell you, Mr. Fry," he said. "I'd

ike to stay to-night, but I can'tnot to

night. You see, I have to go home to myfather. He's anan invalid."

"We'll telephone the good news to him,

Anthony smiled.

"You can't," said David. "We're too poor

o have a telephone."

"Very well. Then we'll wire him."

David shook his head energetically.

"That wouldn't do, either," said he


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"Father's sick, you know. His heart's ver

weak. Just the sight of a telegram migh

kill him."

"Unfortunate!" Anthony sighed and

shrugged his shoulders. "Very well

David. Then you shall write him a note

and I'll have Wilkins take it to him."

David swallowed audibly and smiled

wild little smile.

"Oh, no! Not that, sir!" said he. "Tha

might be even worse than a telegram,

hink."

"Why?"

"Well, father would be likely to think tha

'd beenbeen injured and taken int

some swell home, you know, and that


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was writing like that just to reassure him

o," David said firmly, "that would be th

worst possible thing. I'll have to go mysel

and talk it over with father andnow if can have my cap and my coat?"

t came as a familiar refrain. It cause

Anthony's eye to darken suddenly as he saback and stared at the boy.

"Confound your hat and coat!" he rappe

out. "See here, David. You write the noteand I myself will take it to your father an

explainand be sure that he will rejoice

There is the desk. Where do you live?"

His tone was not nearly so benevolent

Opposition, as always, was rousin

Anthony's unfortunate stubbornness; wit

or without reason, had David but know


111/575

t, every mention of that cap and coat wa

diminishing his chances of walking out o

he Lasandeand it is possible that h

sensed something of the kind, for his smildisappeared abruptly, and the assuranc

hat had been with him was no more.

"I can't tell you where I live!" he saihoarsely.

"In the name of heaven, why not?

Anthony snapped.

"Becausebecausewell, you may no

understand this, sir, but I promised father

wouldn't tell any one where we live."

"What?"

"I did, and I can't break a promise!" Davi

nsisted. "You see, father was rich once


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and he's terribly proud. He doesn't wan

any one to know we live in such a poo

place, because somebody he used to know

might hear of it and try to help him, anhat would break father's heart."

"His heart's in pretty bad shape, isn't it?

Johnson Boller muttered.

"Frightful!" said David. "And that's wh

'll have to go now and explain to him an

hink it all over and"

"Why think it over?" Anthony rasped

"Isn't your mind made up now?"

"Of course it is," the boy said hastily"Only I'll have to tell father and then com

back here in the morning, Mr. Fry; only

have, to go home now!"


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hat she was there.

Well, then, heshouldsee her!

Anthony's square chin set. He rose with erk and stood surveying the nervou

David, a tall, commanding, rathe

fearsome figure. Some little time h

ransfixed the lad with his cold, hard eyes

while David grew paler and paler; then h

walked down upon David, who cringe

visibly, and seized his shoulders.

"David," he said sternly, "you have no

conception at all of what I am trying t

offer you. I'm going to keep you here unti

you have."

"Keep mehere?" David faltered.

"Just that."


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t was in Johnson Boller's mind to rise an

deliver a little speech of his own, pointin

out the legal rights of David Prentiss an

he chance that, at some later datenterested parties might hear of thi

evening and use it in moving Anthon

oward an insane asylum. Yet he did no

speak, for he grew interested in Davihimself.

That bewildered youngster was shrinkin

and shrinking away from Anthony. He wawilting before the stem eye, and he wa

smiling in the sickliest, most ghastl

fashion. And now he was noddin

submissively and speaking:

"Yes, I'll stay, Mr. Fry."

"Ah!" said Anthony.


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"II'm glad to stay," David assured him.

Then, looking at Anthony, he contrived

another smile and yawned; and havinyawned once, he yawned again, vastly

and stretching the second time.

"Thethe trouble with me is that I'

sleepy," David stated, in a strange, low

voice. "I get that way because I'm not use

o late hours, and when I do get sleepy I

can't think or talk or do anything. I'll bmyself in the morning, Mr. Fry; but if I'

going to stay here, I'd like to go to be

now."

He yawned again and still again, quit

noisily and eying Anthony in an odd

expectant, pleading way. Anthony, after a

puzzled moment, shrugged his shoulder


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and smiled.

"Go to bed if you like, David," he said

"There are one or two things I want to sao you first."

"Yes, sir," David said obediently.

"To-morrow, when you have slept on it'm confident that you will see the hug

opportunity that I have offered you, an

hat you will stay with me as one of m

ittle household. It is not an exactin

position, but there are one or two law

you must remember. For the firstno

dissipation. You don't drink, David?"

"Not a drop, sir."

"And for another," Anthony said gravely

"no women!"


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"Eh?" said David.

"Absolutely no women in this Hote

Lasande!" Anthony repeated, with fanatic force that caused Johnson Boller t

snort disgustedly and throw up his hands

"This is, perhaps, more strictly than an

other house in New York an all-manestablishment. There are not even wome

servants here, David, and other sorts o

women don't run in and out of here. I

fact, the ladies who do comerelatives ohe tenants, of courseare so very few

hat they're all known to the clerks. So

while you may have a sweetheart, David

and while she may be all very well in heplacekeep her out of here!"

"But"


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"That's the unwritten law of the house, an

t makes for profound peace," Anthon

concluded. "You'll appreciate it more

fully when you have lived here for ime."

David, facing Mr. Fry, gazed at the floo

and yawned again.

"I guess I'll go to bed," he said weakly.

"And before that we'll start you on th

right track," Anthony said with a gentl

smile. "You'll take a good, hot bath."

He pressed the button and Wilkin

appeared.

"The guest-chamber for young Mr

Prentiss, Wilkins," said Anthony. "You

will outfit him with pajamas of my ow


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and the gray bathrobe I used last year. To

morrow we'll get you something that fits

David."

David nodded numbly.

"And, Wilkins," said his master, "you wil

assist Mr. Prentiss with his bath."

David's nod broke in two.

"I don't want any help," he said.

"But Wilkins"

"Wilkins or anybody else; I don't want an

help with a bath. I know how to take

bath, at least. I don't know how you swell

ake yours, but I take mine alone; I don

want any one pottering around me, and

won't have it!"


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His countenance flushed angrily, and

Anthony favored him with an indulgen

smile. After all, he was very young.

"As you please, David. Show him to th

north bathroom, Wilkins. That is all."

But he tapped Wilkins's shoulder and held

him back a moment to add:

"And get his wretched togs, Wilkins. I'l

dress him properly to-morrow; but ge

hose rags away from him."

"Very good, sir," said Wilkins, as he

glided down the corridor after David.

The proprietor of Fry's Imperial Linimen

watched him go and smiled softly

returning to his chair to grin at Johnso

Boller in a perfectly human fashion


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with his friends, he'll have you pinche

for detaining him here against his wil

and I'll give you ten to one that he collect

not less than twenty-five hundred dollarbefore he's through. You scared him stif

with your eagle eye and your craz

notions, and he pleaded guilty so he coul

go to bed and get away from you. I'll havo testify to that if he calls on me."

"Fiddlesticks!" said Anthony Fry.

"Is it? Wait and see, Anthony," Johnson

Boller said earnestly. "That kid spell

rouble. I can feel it in the air."

"You can always feel it in the air,

Anthony smiled.

"Maybe so; but this feeling amounts to


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pain!" Boller said warmly. "This is

huncha premonitionone of thos

prophetic aches that can't be ignored

Why, he had a fight started before you hadspoken ten words to him, and"

"Oh, rot!" Anthony said.

Johnson Boller drew a deep, concerne

breath.

"On the level," he said, "are you going t

keep this kid imprisoned here?"

"By no means," Anthony laughed. "As

matter of fact, all I want to do is to talk t

him in the morning. I want to knowJohnson, whether he will actually persis

n fighting off the chance I'm offering hi

because it's so confounde


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characteristic of the whole human race. I

he's as obstinate in the morning as he i

nowwell, I suppose I'll turn him loos

with a ten-dollar bill, and look around foanother subject. I'd really like to approac

a dozen men, picked haphazard, and writ

a little paper on the manner in which the

greet opportunity."

"Yes, but not while I'm with you," Johnson

Boller said. "Anthony, do thisget the ki

aside in the morning and tell him you'been drinking heavily all day and didn

know what you were doing to-night. See

Make a joke of it and slip him fifty to kee

quiet, and then"

"Ah, Wilkins," Anthony smiled. "Got hi

ogs, did you?"


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The invaluable one bowed and held th

shabby garments at a distance from hi

person.

"He passed them out to me through a crac

n the door," he reported disgustedly

"What shall I do with them? They'r

hardly worth pressing, sir."

"Of course not. Don't bother with them,

Anthony smiled, and waved his man away

"Johnson, turn intelligent for a momenwill you?"

"Why? Intelligence has no place in thi

evening."

"Oh, yes it has. Let's examine the case o

his David youngster and try to reconstruc

his emotions and his mental impression


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when confronted with opportunity such a

"

"Damn opportunity!" said Johnson Bollerrising with a jerk. "I'm going to bed!"

Only once had Johnson Boller tarried i

Montreal, and on that occasion th

hermometer had ranged about ninety ihe shade. Yet now, as he slumbered

fitfully in Anthony's Circassian guest

chamber, childhood notions of Canad

came to haunt his dreams.

He saw snowlong, glistening roads o

snow over which Beatrice whizzed in

four-horse sleigh, with driver and footma


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on the box, and beside her a tall, foreign

ooking creature with a big mustache an

flashing eyes and teeth. He talked t

Beatrice and leaned very close, devourinher beauty with his eyes; and Johnso

Boller groaned, woke briefly, and drifted

off again.

He saw ice; they were holding an ic

carnival in Montreal, and everybody wa

on skates. Beatrice was on skates

ravishing in white fur, leading some sorof grand march with the Governor Genera

of Canada, who skated very close to he

and devoured her beauty with his bold

official eyes, causing Johnson Boller tgroan again and thresh over on his othe

side.

He saw a glittering toboggan slide


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aughing people in furs were there at th

head of the slide, notably Beatrice

chatting shyly with a blond giant in

Mackinaw, who leaned very close to heas they prepared to coast and devoure

her beauty with his large, blue eyes. Now

hey settled on the toboggan, just thes

wo, although Johnson Boller's astral selseemed to be with them. The blond gian

whispered something, and they slid dow

downdown!

And they struck something, and Johnso

Boller was on his feet in the middle of th

Circassian chamber, demanding:

"What's that? What was that?"

Somewhere, Anthony was muttering and

moving about. Somewhere else, Wilkin


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was chattering; but the main impressio

was that the roof had fallen inan

Johnson Boller, struggling into hi

bathrobe, stumbled to the door and bursnto the brilliant living-room.

n the center of the room, flattened upo

he floor, was Anthony's substantial littledesk. Papers were around it and blotter

and letters without number, and the old

fashioned inkwell had shot off its top an

set a black streak across the beautifuOriental carpet.

Two chairs were on their sides, also, bu

he striking detail of the picture wafurnished by David Prentiss. That youn

man was sprawled crazily, just beyond th

desk, and beside him, holding him dow

with both hands, was Wilkins, tastefull


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arrayed in the flowered silk pajama

Anthony had discarded last year as to

vivid.

"I've got him, sir!" Wilkins' pale lip

reported, as his master appeared. "I hav

him fast."

"What'd he do?" Johnson Boller aske

quickly. "Pull a knife on you, Wilkins?"

"He'd not time for that, sir," Wilkins said

grimly. "I think he stumbled over a chai

and took the desk along with him, trying t

get out. I always wake just as the cloc

strikes two, and stay awake ten minutes o

more, and that's how I came to hear hi

and get him. He was just getting to his fee

when I ran in and turned on the lights, an

he"


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"Let him up!" Anthony said sharply.

"But don't let go of him!" Johnson Bolle

said harshly. "I missed the time by ahour, but I was right otherwise, Anthony

He's got the silver and your stick-pins an

rings on him, andwhat the dickens is h

wearing?"

Silence fell upon them for a little, a

David struggled to his feet and looke

about with a strange, trancelike starefohere was some reason for Mr. Boller'

query.

David, apparently, had dressed for th

street. He wore shoes not less than fiv

sizes too long; he wore a bright brow

sack coat which came almost to his knees

and blue trousers which were turned u


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until they all but met the coat. He ha

acquired a rakish felt hat, too, whic

rested mainly on the back of his neck.

"He got them clothes out of the junk-close

at the end of the corridor, sir," Wilkins

said quite breathlessly. "He must hav

been roaming the place quite a bit, to havfound them, and"

"What were you trying to do, David?

Anthony snapped.

"I don't know, sir," David said vaguely

passing a hand over his eyes in a manne

far too dramatic to be convincing.

"Where did you get those clothes?"

"I have no idea, sir," David murmured.


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"Morning will do for father," Anthony

said briefly.

"But I have a feeling that somethinerrible's going to happen if I don't g

"

Anthony Fry laid a kindly hand on hi

shoulder.

"Get back to bed, youngster," he smiled

"You're nervous, I suppose, being in a

strange bed, and all that sort of thing. And

ncidentally, get off those clothes and giv

hem to Wilkins."

David gulped audibly.

"I'll pass them out to Wilkins, if I must

sir," he said in the queerest, choking voic

and he turned from them and shuffle


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down the corridor to the north bedroom o

Anthony Fry's apartment.

"Curious kid!" Anthony muttered."Not nearly as curious as you are," sai

Johnson Boller. "You didn't even go

hrough his pockets and get out the stuf

while he was here, and we could see jus

what he'd taken! You let him go in there

and dump the pockets before he gives u

he clothes and"

Anthony permitted himself a grin and

yawn.

"My dear chap, go back to bed and forget," he said impatiently. "The boy wa

stealing nothing. He may have been tryin

o escape; he may have been walking i


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ime before it found her in th

conservatory.

Behind thick palms, Beatrice sat with broad-shouldered person in the uniform o

a field-marshal; he had a string of medal

on his chest, and he was devouring he

beauty with his hungry eyes. Nay, more, heaned close to Beatrice and sought to tak

her hand, and although she shrank fro

him in terror, there was a certai

fascinated light in her own lovely blaceyes; she clutched her bosom and sough

o escape, but

"Oh, my Lord!" said Johnson Bollerawakening to stare at the dark ceiling.

Somewhere a window slammed.


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He listened for a little and heard nothin

more; then, having the room nearest th

elevators, he heard one of them hum u

swiftly and heard the gate clatter openAnd then there were voices and some on

knocked on the door of the apartment wit

a club, as it seemed. Somebody els

protested and pressed the buzzerand bhat time Wilkins had padded down th

hall and was opening the door.

Johnson Boller caught:

"Police officer! Lemme in quick! You've

got a burglar in there!"


140/575

CHAPTER V

The Wee Sma' Hours

Wilkins, in his official black, was wonderfully self-contained person; rouse

from slumber in pink-rosed silk, his self

control was not so perfect, for as h

struggled out of bed again Johnson Bollecaught:

"God bless my soul, officer! What"

"Hush!" interrupted an unfamiliar

horrified voice. "Come inside quickly an

close that door."


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Anthony was in motion, too. Johnso

Boller, stumbling out of his Circassia

apartment, met him just entering the living

room from his own chamber, and for annstant they stared at one another as the

knotted bathrobe cords about them.

"You see?" Johnson Boller said, with acidriumph. "I was right, eh?"

"What?"

"The cops have tracked the little devi

down for his last job, whatever that ma

have been, and they've found him here

ow you've got a nice scandal on you

hands, haven't you? A tenth-rate kid crook

found hiding in the flat of Mr. Anthony

Fry, with the full knowledge and consen

of"


142/575

"Upon my word, Johnson, I think you'v

ost your senses to-night!" Anthon

snapped. "Whatever is wrong, Wilkins?"

The silk-pajamaed one indicated thei

visitors with a hand that was none to

steady.

"It's Mr. Dodbury, the night manager, sir

and this policeman that says"

"I'm afraid you have a burglar in here, Mr

Fry," the manager put in agitatedly. "I can

understand how it occurred; nothing of th

kind has ever happened to us before, an

he mouth of that alley is constantly unde

he eye of the firemen on that side of th

boiler-room. Moreover, there is a hig

gate from the street and I cannot believ

hat any one"


143/575

The burly officer halted him.

"Well, however he got there, he was on

he fire-escape and coming down when see him from the street," he sai

energetically. "When he seen me he turned

nto this north window and closed it afte

him, and my partner'd have given me thwhistle if he'd come out again. Whic

room will it be, now?"

Wilkins glanced significantly at himaster.

"If it's the north room on the fire-escape

sir, it must be the room young Mr. Prentis

has to-night."

"And the burglar is supposed to have gon

n there?" Anthony said calmly.


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"He ain't supposedhe went. I seen him!

stated the law. "And the longer we stand

here and talk about it, the more chance h

has to kill whoever's in there!"

"Well, as it happens, he isn't killing any

one, because he isn't there," Mr. Fry said

patiently and with just a touch ocontempt. "Any one entering that roo

must have wakened Mr. Prentiss, and h

certainly hasn't called for help. For tha

matter, I should have heard the windowmyself, because I sleep very lightly

evertheless, if you wish, we will go i

here."

mpressively dignified even in hi

bathrobe, Anthony led the way down th

side corridor, with the four trailing afte

him. They came to the door, and th


145/575

officer pushed forward, club raised griml

over his right shoulder as he laid his lef

hand on the knob.

"Where's the light-switch in there?" h

whispered.

"Right by the door," Wilkins supplied.

"Duck in the second I turn the knob, throw

on the light, and then dodge along th

wall," the law commanded briefly. "Ar

you ready?"

The invaluable one muttered his assen

The knob turned soundlessly and the doo

flew open. Wilkins, with a distinctlerrified little wheeze, pushed in, jabbe

at the button, and scurried down the roo

on his hands and knees, eyes shut to shiel


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his brain from the horrible impression.

Yet there was no hint of anything horrible

With all four corners of the room in plainsight, with the empty closet partly ope

and its interior fully visible, no burgla

crouched, pistol in handno maske

malefactor leaped forward to stun thofficer with his padded lead-pipe. Onl

David Prentiss was in the room, an

David slumbered sweetly in the bed, th

covers pulled tight up around his younchin, a gentle dream-smile upon hi

regular features.

"Well, wotter yuh know about" theofficer began.

"Hush!" Anthony said gently.


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"What?"

"Don't wake the youngster!" Anthon

whispered sharply. "There's no need fohat, officer. Look around if you like and

hen let us get out of here."

He folded his arms and waited, while th

officer, visibly puzzled, poked about th

room, and Wilkins, on his feet and smilin

sheepishly, tip-toed to the doorwhil

he night manager of the Lasande steppen and looked about with a mixture o

perplexity and relief, and Johnson Bolle

stood and stared at the sleeping David.

"Are you quite sure it was this window

officer?" the manager asked.

"I am that, if this is the one next to th


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corner of the house."

"But are you quite sure that you didn

magine it?" Anthony asked tartly.The policeman looked him over gravely.

"Boss, when I can see a man in blac

clothes staring down at me, letting off ittle howl of fright, and then turnin

around and going into a windowwhen

can see that and it ain't there, I'll turn i

franklin edgar - in and out

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