heavy hangings and deep
upholstery.

When one of the Japanese boys brought the cocktails, Fred turned from
the fine specimen of peccoray he had been examining and said, "A man is
an owl to live in such a place alone, Archie. Why don't you marry? As
for me, just because I can't marry, I find the world full of charming,
unattached women, any one of whom I could fit up a house for with
alacrity."

"You're more knowing than I." Archie spoke politely. "I'm not very wide
awake about women. I'd be likely to pick out one of the uncomfortable
ones--and there are a few of them, you know." He drank his cocktail and
rubbed his hands together in a friendly way. "My friends here have
charming wives, and they don't give me a chance to get lonely. They are
very kind to me, and I have a great many pleasant friendships."

Fred put down his glass. "Yes, I've always noticed that women have
confidence in you. You have the doctor's way of getting next. And you
enjoy that kind of thing?"

"The friendship of attractive women? Oh, dear, yes! I depend upon it a
great deal."

The butler announced dinner, and the two men went downstairs to the
dining-room. Dr. Archie's dinners were always good and well served, and
his wines were excellent.

"I saw the Fuel and Iron people to-day," Ottenburg said, looking up from
his soup. "Their heart is in the right place. I can't see why in the
mischief you ever got mixed up with that reform gang, Archie. You've got
nothing to reform out here. The situation has always been as simple as
two and two in Colorado; mostly a matter of a friendly understanding."

"Well,"--Archie spoke tolerantly,--"some of the young fellows seemed to
have red-hot convictions, and I thought it was better to let them try
their ideas out."

Ottenburg shrugged his shoulders. "A few dull young men who haven't
ability enough to play the old game the old way, so they want to put on
a new game which doesn't take so much brains and gives away more
advertising that's what your anti-saloon league and vice commission
amounts to. They provide notoriety for the fellows who can't distinguish
themselves at running a business or practicing law or developing an
industry. Here you have a mediocre lawyer with no brains and no
practice, trying to get a look-in on something. He comes up with the
novel proposition that the prostitute has a hard time of it, puts his
picture in the paper, and the first thing you know, he's a celebrity. He
gets the r