e. Saturday night, mind!" and nodding,
M'Ginnis turned away. The youth looked after him with venomous eyes,
and his right hand made a sinister movement toward his hip pocket.
"Aw--quit it; are ye crazy?" grunted his companion. "Bud's got us
cinched."
"Got us--hell!" snarled the youth. "Bud's askin' for it, an' some day
he's goin' t' get it--good!"
Toward afternoon, Ravenslee was trundling light-heartedly eastward,
his barrow emptied to the last peanut. Having reached Fifth Avenue,
he paused to mop his perspiring brow when a long, low automobile,
powerfully engined, that was creeping along behind, pulled up with a
sudden jerk, and its driver, whose immense shoulders were clad in a very
smart livery, pushed up the peak of his smart cap to run his fingers
through his close-cropped hair, while his mild blue eyes grew very wide
and round.
"Crikey!" said he at last. "Is that you, sir, or ain't it?"
"How much?" demanded Ravenslee gruffly.
"Crumbs!" said the chauffeur. "Sir, if you--ain't you, all I say is--I
ain't me!"
"Aw--what's bitin' ye, bo?" growled Ravenslee.
"Well, if this ain't the rummest go, I'm a perisher!"
"Say, now, crank up d' machine an' beat it while d' goin' 's good. How's
that, Joe?"
"Lord, Mr. Ravenslee--so you are my guv'nor, and blow me tight--shoving
a barrer! I knowed it was you, sir; leastways I knowed your legs an' the
set o' them shoulders, but--with a barrer! Excuse me, sir, but the idea
o' you pushing a perishing peanut barrer so gay an' 'appy-'earted--well,
all I can say is love-a-duck!"
"Well now, cut along, Joe, and get ready. I mean to put in some real
hard work with you this afternoon."
"Right-o, sir!" nodded Joe eagerly. "Lord, but we've missed you
terrible--the Old Un an' me."
"Glad of it, Joe! Tell Patterson to have my bath ready when we've
finished. Off with you--drive in the Fifth Avenue entrance."
Joe nodded, and the big car turned and crept silently away, while
Ravenslee, trundling onward, turned off to the left and so into a very
large, exceedingly neat garage where stood five or six automobiles of
various patterns in one of which, a luxurious limousine, an old, old man
snored blissfully. At the rumble of the barrow, however, this ancient
being choked upon a snore, coughed, swore plaintively, and finally sat
up. Perceiving Ravenslee, he blinked, rubbed his eyes, and stepping from
the car very nimbly despite his years, faced the intruder with a
ferocious
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