u lost your nerve when
you found it wasn't in that coat pocket. Is that right?"

"But I did find it!" exclaimed Trencher, fairly jostled out of his pose
by these last words from his gloating captor. "I've got it now!"

Murtha's hand stole into his trousers pocket and fondled something
there.

"What'll you bet you've got it now?" he demanded gleefully. "What'll you
bet?"

"I'll bet my life--that's all," answered Trencher. "Here, I'll show
you!"

He stood up. Because his wrists were chained he had to twist his body
sidewise before he could slip one hand into his own trousers pocket.

He groped in its depths and then brought forth something and held it out
in his palm.

The poor light of the single electric bulb glinted upon an object which
threw off dulled translucent tints of bluish-green--not a trade dollar,
but a big overcoat button the size of a trade dollar--a flat, smooth,
rimless disk of smoked pearl with a tiny depression in the middle where
the thread holes went through. For a little space of time both of them
with their heads bent forward contemplated it.

Then with a flirt of his manacled hands Trencher flung it away from
him, and with a sickly pallor of fright and surrender stealing up under
the skin of his cheeks he stared at the detective.

"You win, Murtha," he said dully. "What's the use bucking the game after
your luck is gone? Come on, let's go down-town. Yes, I bumped off
Sonntag."

CHAPTER V

QUALITY FOLKS

In our town formerly there were any number of negro children named for
Caucasian friends of their parents. Some bore for their names the names
of old masters of the slavery time, masters who had been kindly and
gracious and whose memories thereby were affectionately perpetuated;
these were mainly of a generation now growing into middle age. Others--I
am speaking still of the namesakes, not of the original bearers of the
names--had been christened with intent to do honour to indulgent and
well-remembered employers of post-bellum days. Thus it might befall, for
example, that Wadsworth Junius Courtney, Esquire, would be a prominent
advocate practicing at the local bar and that Wadsworth Junius Courtney
Jones, of colour, would be his janitor and sweep out his office for him.
Yet others had been named after white children--and soon after--for the
reason that the white children had been given first names having a fine,
full, sonorous sound or else a fascinatingly novel sound.

Of