worse
they look, the better I'll like it. And while you're about it, get me
some worn-out shoes or boots. How soon can you have them here?"

"I--I dunno." Burke was looking somewhat overwhelmed. "You're pretty
big," he mentioned. "Nothin' o' mine 'd fit you."

"Great Scott!" exploded the other. "I don't want 'em to _fit_! I'm not
going to a pink tea in them."

"But you want to get 'em _on_, don't you?" Burke demanded, with some
coldness.

"I do."

"Well, look at yerself; young fella, and then look at me."

Laurie obeyed the latter part of the injunction. The father of seven was
at least five inches shorter than he, and his legs and shoulders were
small in proportion. No coat or trousers he wore could possibly go on
the young Hercules before him.

"Oh, well," urged the latter, impatiently, "get some, somewhere. Here.
Take a run into town. Use my car if you like. Or go to some one you know
who's about my size. Only, mum's the word."

Five-dollar bills were in the air, fluttering before the eyes of the
garage-owner like leaves in Vallambrosa. He clutched them avidly.

"And hurry up," added his impatient patron. "Let's see you back here in
five minutes."

"Who'll look after the garage? Not that any one's likely to stop," the
proprietor gloomily admitted.

"I'll look after it. Come, get a move on!"

"Oh, all right! But I can't be back in no five minutes, nor in thirty
minutes, neither. I gotta go over to Nick Swanson's. He's about your
size."

"All right, all right! Go to it."

The impatient youth was fairly shooing him out of his own garage, but
with the sweet memory of those five-dollar bills to sustain him, Burke
was patient, even good-humored. One thing he could say about them
college lads: they was usually ready to pay well for their nonsense.
With a forgiving grin he hurried off.

Left alone, Laurie removed his coat and cap, searched the garage
successfully for grease, oil, waste, and shoe-blacking, and then,
establishing himself in front of a broken mirror in Burke's alleged
office, removed his collar and effected a startling transformation in
the appearance of his head, face, hands, and shirt.

Beginning in his college days, and continuing throughout his more recent
theatrical experiences, the art of make-up had increasingly interested
him. The people in his plays owed something to his developing skill, and
even one of the leading ladies had humbly taken suggestions from him.
But never in any st