of
Panama; and even were that possibility not always staring him in the
face, in the words of "Gorgona Red," "You've got t' have money fer yer
booze, ain't ye?"

Which seems also to be Uncle Sam's view of the matter. Far and away
more important than any of the plain-clothes equipment thus far
mentioned is the "expense account." It is unlike the others in that it
is not visible and tangible but a mere condition, a pleasant sensation
like the consciousness of a good appetite or a youthful fullness of
life. The only reality is a form signed by the czar of the Zone himself
tucked away among I. C. C. financial archives. That authorizes the man
assigned to special duty in plain clothes to be reimbursed money
expended in the pursuance of duty up to the sum of $60 per month;
though it is said that the interpretation of this privilege to the full
limit is not unlikely to cause flames of light, thunderous rumblings,
and other natural phenomena in the vicinity of Empire and Culebra. But
please note further; these expenditures may be only "for cab or boat
hire, meals away from home, and LIQUOR and CIGARS!" Plainly the
"gum-shoe" should be a bachelor.

Fortunately, however, the proprietor of the expense account is not
required personally to consume it each month. It is designed rather to
win the esteem of bar-tenders, loosen the tongues of suspects, libate
the thirsty stool-pigeon, and prime other accepted sources of
information. But beware! Exceeding care in filling out the account of
such expenditures at the month's end. Carelessness leads a hunted life
on the Canal Zone. Take, for instance, the slight error of my
friend--who, having made such expenditure in Colon, by a slip of the
pen, or to be nice, of the typewriter, sent in among three score and
ten items the following:

Feb. 4/ 2 bots beer; Cristobal........50c

and in the course of time found said voucher again on his desk with a
marginal note of mild-eyed wonder and more than idle curiosity, in the
handwriting of a man very high up indeed;

WHERE can you buy beer in Cristobal?

All this and more I learned in the swivel-chair waiting for orders,
reading the latest novel that had found its way to Ancon station, and
receiving frequent assurances that I should be quite busy enough once I
got started. Opposite sat Lieutenant Long pouring choice bits of
sub-station orders into the 'phone:

"Don't you believe it. That was no accident. He didn't lose everything
he