him in a state of great good
nature.

"Go home and make yourself ready for a dive into the infernal regions,"
he said, merrily. "I am going to take you to a place where the devil
spends his vacation, and show you a set of women as different from those
you have lately met as chalk is from indigo. Be here at nine o'clock
this evening, prepared for the descent."

A vision of subterranean passages crossed the mind of the listener, and
he thought of tall boots and a tarpaulin.

"How shall I dress--roughly, I suppose?" he inquired.

"Certainly not. Put on your swallow tail, and white tie. Vice in these
days wears its best garments. You cannot tell a gambler from a
clergyman by his attire. Dress exactly as if you were going to the
swellest party on Fifth Avenue. The only addition to your toilet will be
a revolver, if you happen to have one handy. If you do not, I have
several and will lend you one."

If he expected to startle the young man he was in error. Roseleaf merely
nodded and said he would take one of the weapons owned by Mr. Weil.

"We shall not use them--there are a thousand chances to one," said
Archie. "New York is like Montana. You remember what the resident said
to the tenderfoot, 'You may be a long time without wantin' a we'p'n in
these parts, but when you do you'll want it d--d sudden.'"

When Roseleaf returned, the hands of his watch indicated the time at
which he had been asked to make his appearance, but Mr. Weil did not
take him immediately to the point of destination. Instead he walked over
to a variety theatre that was then in operation on Twenty-third street,
and after spending a short time in the auditorium guided the young man
into the "wineroom." Here the ladies of the ballet were in the habit of
going when off the stage, for the sake of entertaining the patrons with
their light and frivolous conversation, and inducing them if possible,
to invest in champagne at five dollars the bottle.

Archie was, it appeared, not unknown to the throng that filled this
place, for his name was spoken by several of both sexes as soon as he
entered. He nodded coolly to those who addressed him, and took a seat
at a table with his companion. With a shake of his head he declined the
offers of two or three fairies of the ballet to share the table, and
ordered a bottle of Mumm with the evident intention of drinking it alone
with his friend.

Roseleaf slowly sipped the sparkling beverage. He was cautioned in a
whis