at power of
purpose, which rang true, even to this blase and cynical dispenser of
the grape. The latter nodded and smiled, albeit flabbily, into the
winsome eyes of the young officer.

"Ye're a reg'lar fellar, Mr. Green, I kin see that! Trust me to have a
lightning conductor fer you--with his lamps lit and burning. These
nighthawk taxis around here make most of their mazuma by this fly
stuff--generally the souses ain't got enough left for a taxicab, and
it's a waste o' time stickin' 'em up since the rubes are so easy with
the taxi meter. But just look out for a little badger work on the
chauffeur when ye git through with 'im."

Burke nodded. Then he added. "Just keep this to yourself, won't you?
There's nothing crooked about it--I'm trying to do some one a good
turn. Tell them to keep the taxi ready, no matter how long it takes."

"Sure and I will, Mr. Green."

The waiter walked away toward the front door, where he carried out
Burke's instructions, slipping the second bill into the willing hand of
the starter.

As he came back he shrewdly studied the face of the young policeman who
was quietly listening to the furious fusillade of the ragtime musicians.

"Well, that guy's not as green as he says his name is. He don't look
like no crook, neither! I wonder what his stall is? Well, _I_ should
worry!"

And he went his way rejoicing in the possession of that peace of mind
which comes to some men who let neither the joys nor woes of others
break through the armament of their own comfortable placidity. Every
night of his life was crowded with curious, sad and ridiculous
incidents; had he let them linger long in his mind his hand and
temperament would have suffered a loss of accumulative skill. That
would have spelled ruin, and this particular waiter, like so many of
his flabby-faced brothers, was a shrewd tradesman--in the commodities
of his discreetly elastic memory--and the even more valuable asset, a
talent for forgetting!

Burke was biding his time, and watching developments.

He saw the mealy-faced Baxter take Lorna out upon the dancing floor for
the next dance. They swung into the rhythm of the dance with easy
familiarity, which proved that the girl was no novice in this style of
terpsichorean enjoyment.

"She has been to other dances like this," muttered Bobbie as he watched
with a strange loathing in his heart. "It's terrible to see the girls
of a great modern city like New York entering publ