nch.

"Oh, Madame!"

"And I, too, will give a hundred to the baby," said Septimus. "I like
babies and I've also had the measles." He opened his pocketbook.

"Oh, Monsieur," said the man. "How can I ever be sufficiently grateful?"

He held out his hand for the note, when something hit him violently in the
back. It was the magazine hurled by the burly Englishman, who followed up
the assault by a torrent of abuse.

_"Allez-vous-ong! Cochons! Et plus vite que ca!"_ There was something
terrific in his awful British accent.

The pair turned in obvious dismay. He waved them off.

"Don't give them anything. The baby hasn't any red spots. There isn't a
baby. They daren't show their noses in the rooms. _Oh je vous connais. Vous
etes George Polin et Celestine Macrou. Sales voleurs. Allez-vous-ong ou
j'appelle la police_."

But the last few words were shouted to the swiftly retiring backs of the
pathetic couple.

"I've saved you two hundred francs," said the burly Englishman, picking up
his magazine and tenderly smoothing it. "Those two are the most
accomplished swindlers in this den of thieves."

"I can't believe it," said Zora, half hurt, half resentful. "The woman's
eyes were full of tears."

"It's true," said her champion. "And the best of it is that the man is
actually an accredited agent of Jebusa Jones's Cuticle Remedy."

He stood, his hands on his broad hips, regarding her with the piercing
eyes of a man who is imparting an incredible but all-important piece of
information.

"Why the best of it?" asked Zora, puzzled.

"It only shows how unscrupulous they are in their business methods. A man
like that could persuade a fishmonger or an undertaker to stock it. But
he'll do them in the end. They'll suffer for it."

"Who will?"

"Why, Jebusa Jones, of course. Oh, I see," he continued, looking at the two
perplexed faces, "you don't know who I am. I am Clem Sypher."

He looked from one to the other as if to see the impression made by his
announcement.

"I am glad to make your acquaintance," said Septimus, "and I thank you for
your services."

"Your name?"

"My name is Dix--Septimus Dix."

"Delighted to meet you. I have seen you before. Two years ago. You were
sitting alone in the lounge of the Hotel Continental, Paris. You were
suffering from severe abrasions on your face."

"Dear me," said Septimus. "I remember. I had shaved myself with a safety
razor. I invented it."

"I was going to speak to you,