thank whatever gods there be for his unconquerable
soul, for his soul was licked to a splinter. He felt alone and
friendless in a rotten world. With the best intentions, he had succeeded
only in landing himself squarely amongst the ribstons. Why had he not
been content with his wealth, instead of risking it on that blighted bet
with Reggie? Why had he trailed the Girl Friend, dash her! He might have
known that he would only make an ass of himself, And, because he had
done so, Looney Biddle's left hand, that priceless left hand before
which opposing batters quailed and wilted, was out of action, resting in
a sling, careened like a damaged battleship; and any chance the Giants
might have had of beating the Pirates was gone--gone--as surely as
that thousand dollars which should have bought a birthday present for
Lucille.

A birthday present for Lucille! He groaned in bitterness of spirit.
She would be coming back to-night, dear girl, all smiles and happiness,
wondering what he was going to give her tomorrow. And when to-morrow
dawned, all he would be able to give her would be a kind smile. A nice
state of things! A jolly situation! A thoroughly good egg, he did NOT
think!

It seemed to Archie that Nature, contrary to her usual custom of
indifference to human suffering, was mourning with him. The sky
was overcast, and the sun had ceased to shine. There was a sort of
sombreness in the afternoon, which fitted in with his mood. And then
something splashed on his face.

It says much for Archie's pre-occupation that his first thought, as,
after a few scattered drops, as though the clouds were submitting
samples for approval, the whole sky suddenly began to stream like a
shower-bath, was that this was simply an additional infliction which he
was called upon to bear, On top of all his other troubles he would get
soaked to the skin or have to hang about in some doorway. He cursed
richly, and sped for shelter.

The rain was setting about its work in earnest. The world was full of
that rending, swishing sound which accompanies the more violent summer
storms. Thunder crashed, and lightning flicked out of the grey heavens.
Out in the street the raindrops bounded up off the stones like fairy
fountains. Archie surveyed them morosely from his refuge in the entrance
of a shop.

And then, suddenly, like one of those flashes which were lighting up the
gloomy sky, a thought lit up his mind.

"By Jove! If this keeps up, there won't be