done it!

Ben Stull began to speak; and presently Neeland discovered that the
fox-faced man's name was Doc Curfoot; that he had just arrived from
London on receipt of a telegram from them; and that they themselves
had landed the night before from a transatlantic liner to await him
here.

Doc Curfoot checked the conversation, which was becoming general now,
saying that they'd better be very sure that the man opposite
understood no English before they became careless.

"_Musseer_," he added suavely to Neeland, who looked up with a polite
smile, "_parly voo Anglay_?"

"_Je parle Francais, monsieur._"

"I get him," said Stull, sourly. "I knew it anyway. He's got the sissy
manners of a Frenchy, even if he don't look the part. No white man
tips his lid to nobody except a swell skirt."

"I seen two dudes do it to each other on Fifth Avenue," remarked
Curfoot, and spat from the window.

Brandes, imperturbable, rolled his cigar into the corner of his mouth
and screwed his greenish eyes to narrow slits.

"You got our wire, Doc?"

"Why am I here if I didn't!"

"Sure. Have an easy passage?"

Doc Curfoot's foxy visage still wore traces of the greenish pallor; he
looked pityingly at Brandes--_self_-pityingly:

"Say, Eddie, that was the worst I ever seen. A freight boat, too. God!
I was that sick I hoped she'd turn turtle! And nab it from me; if you
hadn't wired me S O S, I'd have waited over for the steamer train and
the regular boat!"

"Well, it's S O S all right, Doc. I got a cable from Quint this
morning saying our place in Paris is ready, and we're to be there and
open up tonight----"

"_What_ place?" demanded Curfoot.

"Sure, I forgot. You don't know anything yet, do you?"

"Eddie," interrupted Stull, "let me do the talking _this_ time, if
_you_ please."

And, to Curfoot:

"Listen, Doc. We was up against it. You heard. Every little thing has
went wrong since Eddie done what he done--every damn thing! Look
what's happened since Maxy Venem got sore and he and Minna started out
to get him! Morris Stein takes away the Silhouette Theatre from us and
we can't get no time for 'Lilith' on Broadway. We go on the road and
bust. All our Saratoga winnings goes, also what we got invested with
Parson Smawley when the bulls pulled Quint's----!"

"Ah, f'r the lov' o' Mike!" began Brandes. "Can that stuff!"

"All right, Eddie. I'm tellin' Doc, that's all. I ain't aiming to be
no crape-hanger; I only want you both to