ying himself in the shop looking-glass while
Mr. Sonneschein lovingly smoothed the lapels into place and gathered a
generous handful of the surplus material at the back.

"I don't know if dey have--ain'd dot der elegantist fit in der vorld,
now. See, Rachel; ain'd dot schplendit?"

"They didn't happen to mention the fellow's name, did they?" asked the
prospective purchaser.

"Not much dey didn't! Dem dedectifs iss too schmart for dot. Dey don't
give it avay when somepody else might got der rewards. How you like dot
schplendit coat, now?"

"Seems tolerable big, doesn't it?" said the customer, whose speech still
fitted his part to the final drawl. "Suppose we try something else. So
there is a reward, is there?"

Mr. Sonneschein took the reward for granted and expressed a devout wish
that he might be able to finger it. Whereupon the customer said he
wished _he_ might; and here the topic died a natural death and the
business of buying and selling went on without further interruption.

There was little suggestion of the tramp roustabout, and still less,
perhaps, of the gentleman, about the person who presently emerged from
the Sonneschein emporium. Nevertheless, he appeared to be well satisfied
with his acquisitions, bearing himself as a purchaser who has by no
means had the worse in the bargaining. At the first street corner he
inquired his way of a policeman and was directed cityward. A square
farther on he selected a barber's shop of cleanly promise, went in,
tossed his newly acquired hand-bag to the porter, and took the first
vacant chair.

"A hair-cut, a clean shave--not too close, and a bath afterward," was
his laconic order; and a modest tip facilitated things and provided the
little luxuries.

An hour later no one who had known him bearded and unkempt would have
recognized the clean-shaven, athletic-looking young man who ran down the
steps of the barber's shop and went swinging along on his way up-town.
But the transformation was still incomplete. Reaching the retail
district, he strolled purposefully up one street and down another,
passing many brilliantly lighted shops until he found one exactly to his
liking. A courteous salesman caught him up at the door, and led the way
to the designated departments.

By this time Mr. Sonneschein's hesitant and countrified customer had
undergone a complete metamorphosis. No longer reluctant and hard to
please, he passed rapidly from counter to counter, making his sele