Van Dorn.

"Ale with the clams," suggested Livingstone. The others nodded.

"Martinis first," interrupted Perner. Then to the waiter, "Four
Martinis--and don't be all night getting them here."

"Rochefort, and Panetela cigars with the coffee," supplemented
Barrifield.

"Cigarettes for me," corrected Livingstone, "Turkish Sultanas, small
package, gold tips."

There was a note of gold in the atmosphere. The order was not prodigal,
but there was an unstinted go-as-you-please manner about it which made
the waiter bow and vanish hastily. Barrifield turned to Perner.

"Now," he said, "what's your great scheme?"

Perner had already drawn a folded type-written sheet from his inside
coat pocket.

"It's Van's idea," he said, with becoming modesty. "I may have
elaborated it some and put it into words, that's all. But it's simply
tremendous! Premiums have been done. Cameras and watches have been given
with twelve papers of bluing or needles, but this thing has never been
done by anybody--at least, not in this form."

"That's right!" said Livingstone.

"No, sir, old man; I don't believe it has," confessed Van Dorn, with
some reluctance at doing justice to his own conception.

Barrifield looked from one to the other with large expectancy in his
eyes.

"Let's hear it," he said anxiously.

Perner unfolded the paper and glanced at the tables about them to see
that no one was listening. Then he began to read in a low, earnest
voice:

"CASH PAID FOR NAMES!

"TWENTY-FIVE CENTS FOR EACH!

"The proprietors of the 'Whole Family,' the greatest and
most magnificent weekly paper ever published, make to the
whole English-speaking world the following unheard-of offer.

"I got that style of eloquence from Frisby's advertisements," Perner
paused to explain. "It catches 'em, you know." The others nodded. Perner
continued:

"To any one, old or young, in any part of the globe, who
will send us a list of twenty names of men or women, boys or
girls, likely to be interested in the most beautiful, the
most superb, illustrated family weekly ever published, we
will send our marvelous paper, the 'Whole Family,' for four
consecutive weeks free of charge, and we will pay the sender

"TWENTY-FIVE CENTS IN CASH FOR EACH NAME

"added to our subscription-books on or before November 1,
1897. Remember, there is no canvassing! You select twenty
good names and send them to us