ough many
tree-lined streets--it is a misdemeanor, punishable by fine, to cut
down a tree in Rio de Janeiro--it carried a young American with the
air of an accomplished idler, who has been mildly bored by the
incomparable view from the waterside boulevard. When it stopped at the
foot of one of the slum covered _morros_ that dot all Rio, and a
liveried doorman came out of a splendid residence to ask the visitor
his name, the taxi discharged a young American who seemed to feel the
heat, in spite of the swift motion of the cab. He wiped off his
forehead with his handkerchief as he was assured that the Senhor
Ribiera had given orders he was to be admitted, night or day. When the
taxi drove off, it carried two men on the chauffeur's seat, of whom
one had lost, temporarily, the manner of haughty insolence which is
normally inseparable from the secretary of a taxicab chauffeur.

But though he wiped his forehead with his handkerchief, Bell actually
felt rather cold when he followed his guide through ornately furnished
rooms, which seemed innumerable, and was at last left to wait in an
especially luxurious salon.

There was a pause. A rather long wait. A distinctly long wait. Bell
lighted a cigarette and seemed to become mildly bored. He regarded a
voluptuous small statuette with every appearance of pleased interest.
A subtly decadent painting seemed to amuse him considerably. He did
not seem to notice that no windows at all were visible, and that
shaded lamps lit this room, even in broad daylight.

* * * * *

Two servants came in, a footman in livery and the major-domo. Your
average _Carioca_ servant is either fawning or covertly insolent.
These two were obsequious. The footman carried a tray with a bottle,
glass, ice, and siphon.

"The Senhor Ribiera," announced the major-domo obsequiously, "begs
that the Senhor Bell will oblige him by waiting for the shortest of
moments until the Senhor Ribiera can relieve himself of a business
matter. It will be but the shortest of moments."

Bell felt a little instinctive chill at sight of the bottle and
glasses.

"Oh, very well," he said idly. "You may put the tray there."

The footman lifted the siphon expectantly. Bell regarded it
indifferently. The wait before the arrival of this drink had been
longer than would be required merely for the announcing of a caller
and the tending of a tray, especially if such a tray were a custom of
the place. And