t he advertise his swollen fortunes; and as for the gold
in his trousers pocket--a ponderable weight, liable to chink
treacherously when he moved--P. Sybarite removed this and thoughtfully
cached it under one of the cushions of his cab. It seemed a long
chance to take with a hundred dollars: but a hundred dollars wasn't a
great deal, after all, to a man as flush as he; and better lose it all
(said he) than make a noise like a peripatetic mint in a den of
thieves and worse....

The cab drawing up to the curb, out P. Sybarite hopped, a dollar in
hand for the chauffeur, and the admonition: "I'm keeping you; wait
till I come out, if I'm all night; and don't let your motor die,
'cause I _may_ be in a hurry."

"Gotcha," said the chauffeur tersely; pocketed the bill; lighted a
cigarette....

P. Sybarite held back an instant to inspect the approach.

This being Sunday morning, Dutch House was decorously dull to the
street; the doors to the bar closed, the lights within low and drowsy;
even the side door, giving access to the "restaurant," was closed much
of the time--when, that is to say, it wasn't swinging to admit an
intermittent flow of belated casuals and habitues of both sexes.

A row of vehicles lined the curb: nighthawk taxicabs for the most
part, with one or two four-wheelers, as many disreputable and
dilapidated hansoms, and (aside from that in which P. Sybarite had
arrived) a single taxicab of decent appearance. This last stood, with
door ajar, immediately opposite the side entrance, its motor pulsing
audibly--evidently waiting under orders similar to those issued by P.
Sybarite.

Now as the latter advanced to enter Dutch House, shadows appeared on
the ground glass of the side door; and opening with a jerk, it let out
a gush of fetid air together with Respectability on the
prowl--Respectability incognito, sly, furtive of air, and in
noticeable haste.

He paused for a bare instant on the threshold; affording P. Sybarite
opportunity for a good, long look.

"Two-thirty," said Respectability brusquely over his shoulder.

The man behind him growled affirmation: "Two-thirty--don't worry: I'll
be on the job."

"And take care of that boy."

"Grab it from me, boss, when he wakes up, he won't know where he's
been."

"Good-night, then," said Respectability grudgingly.

"G'd-night."

The door closed, and with an ineradicable manner of weight and
consequence Respectability turned toward the waiting taxicab: a m