an exacting position,
but there are one or two laws you must remember. For the first--no
dissipation. You don't drink, David?"

"Not a drop, sir."

"And for another," Anthony said gravely, "no women!"

"Eh?" said David.

"Absolutely no women in this Hotel Lasande!" Anthony repeated, with a
fanatic force that caused Johnson Boller to snort disgustedly and throw
up his hands. "This is, perhaps, more strictly than any other house in
New York an all-man establishment. There are not even women servants
here, David, and other sorts of women _don't_ run in and out of here. In
fact, the ladies who do come--relatives of the tenants, of course--are
so very few that they're all known to the clerks. So, while you may have
a sweetheart, David, and while she may be all very well in her
place--keep her out of here!"

"But----"

"That's the unwritten law of the house, and it makes for profound
peace," Anthony concluded. "You'll appreciate it more fully when you
have lived here for a time."

David, facing Mr. Fry, gazed at the floor and yawned again.

"I guess I'll go to bed," he said weakly.

"And before that we'll start you on the right track," Anthony said with
a gentle smile. "You'll take a good, hot bath."

He pressed the button and Wilkins appeared.

"The guest-chamber for young Mr. Prentiss, Wilkins," said Anthony. "You
will outfit him with pajamas of my own and the gray bathrobe I used last
year. To-morrow we'll get you something that fits, David."

David nodded numbly.

"And, Wilkins," said his master, "you will assist Mr. Prentiss with his
bath."

David's nod broke in two.

"I don't want any help," he said.

"But Wilkins----"

"Wilkins or anybody else; I don't want any help with a bath. I know how
to take a bath, at least. I don't know how you swells take yours, but I
take mine alone; I don't want any one pottering around me, and I won't
have it!"

His countenance flushed angrily, and Anthony favored him with an
indulgent smile. After all, he was very young.

"As you please, David. Show him to the north bathroom, Wilkins. That is
all."

But he tapped Wilkins's shoulder and held him back a moment to add:

"And get his wretched togs, Wilkins. I'll dress him properly to-morrow;
but get those rags away from him."

"Very good, sir," said Wilkins, as he glided down the corridor after
David.

The proprietor of Fry's Imperial Liniment watched him go and smiled
softly, returning to his chair to grin at