ut loose, Mr. Higgins. This
is on the boss, you know."

"What say?" says he, runnin' his eye over the book that the waiter
holds out. "Rum? No, Sir!"

"Flit then, Francois," says I. "We're two dry ones."

And my hope of gettin' a tongue loosener into Ira goes glimmerin'.
When it comes to tacklin' strange dishes, though, he was no quitter,
followin' me from bouillabaisse to cafe parfait without battin' an
eyelash, and me orderin' reckless from the card just to see what the
things looked like.

I don't know whether it was the fancy rations, or the sporty crowd
around us, or the jiggly music, or a combination of all three; but by
the time I've induced Mr. Higgins to tackle a demitasse and light up a
seven-inch Havana he mellows enough so that he's almost on the point of
makin' a remark all by himself.

"Well," says I encouragin', "why not let it come?"

And it does. "By gorry!!" says he. "It's most eight o'clock. What
time do the shows begin?"

"I was just go in' to mention that," says I. "Plenty of time, though.
Anything special you'd like to see?"

"Why, yes," says he. And then, glancin' around cautious, he leans
across the table and asks mysterious, "Say, where's Maizie Latour
actin'?"

Honest, it comes out so unexpected he had me gaspin'. "Oh, you
Boothbay ringer!" says I. "Maizie, eh? Now, who would have thought
it? And you only landed this mornin'! Maizie--er--what was that
again?"

"Latour," says he, flushin' up some and tryin' not to notice my josh.

"It's by me," says I. "Sounds like musical comedy, though. Is she a
showgirl, or one of the chicken ballet?"

Ira shakes his head puzzled. "All I know," says he, "is that she's
actin' somewhere in New York, and--and I'd like to find out where.
I--I got to!" he adds emphatic.

"Then you ought to have said that before," says I, "and Mr. Robert
would have put one of his chappy friends on the job. Sorry, but when
it comes to chorus girls, I ain't----"

"Hold on!" he breaks in. "You're sort of jumpin' at things, Son. The
fact is I--well, I guess I might's well tell you as anyone. I--I got
to tell someone."

"Help!" thinks I. "The dam's goin' to give way."

"You see," he goes on, "it's like this: Nellie's an old friend of mine,
and----"

"Nellie!" says I. "You just said Maizie."

"That's what I hear she goes by on the stage," says he. "She was
Nellie Mason up to the Harbor."

"You don't mean it?" says I. "What was she doin'