forehead
nervously. "They'll get the habit pretty soon. They'll come with a
rush when they do come."

One afternoon Keogh dropped into the consul's office, chewing an
unlighted cigar thoughtfully.

"Got anything up your sleeve?" he inquired of Johnny. "If you have
it's about time to show it. If you can borrow some gent's hat in the
audience, and make a lot of customers for an idle stock of shoes
come out of it, you'd better spiel. The boys have all laid in enough
footwear to last 'em ten years; and there's nothing doing in the shoe
store but dolcy far nienty. I just came by there. Your venerable
victim was standing in the door, gazing through his specs at the
bare toes passing by his emporium. The natives here have got the
true artistic temperament. Me and Clancy took eighteen tintypes this
morning in two hours. There's been but one pair of shoes sold all
day. Blanchard went in and bought a pair of fur-lined house-slippers
because he thought he saw Miss Hemstetter go into the store. I saw
him throw the slippers into the lagoon afterwards."

"There's a Mobile fruit steamer coming in to-morrow or next day,"
said Johnny. "We can't do anything until then."

"What are you going to do--try to create a demand?"

"Political economy isn't your strong point," said the consul,
impudently. "You can't create a demand. But you can create a
necessity for a demand. That's what I am going to do."

Two weeks after the consul sent his cable, a fruit steamer brought
him a huge, mysterious brown bale of some unknown commodity. Johnny's
influence with the custom-house people was sufficiently strong for
him to get the goods turned over to him without the usual inspection.
He had the bale taken to the consulate and snugly stowed in the back
room.

That night he ripped open a corner of it and took out a handful of
the cockleburrs. He examined them with the care with which a warrior
examines his arms before he goes forth to battle for his lady-love
and life. The burrs were the ripe August product, as hard as
filberts, and bristling with spines as tough and sharp as needles.
Johnny whistled softly a little tune, and went out to find Billy
Keogh.

Later in the night, when Coralio was steeped in slumber, he and Billy
went forth into the deserted streets with their coats bulging like
balloons. All up and down the Calle Grande they went, sowing the
sharp burrs carefully in the sand, along the narrow sidewalks, in
every foot of grass betwe