because Del Mar was laying off for a vacation, the man did
trained-animal turns for a living. He, too, bought drinks at Daughtry's
table. Young, not over thirty, dark of complexion with large,
long-lashed brown eyes that he fondly believed were magnetic, cherubic of
lip and feature, he belied all his appearance by talking business in
direct business fashion.

"But you ain't got the money to buy 'm," Daughtry replied, when the other
had increased his first offer of five hundred dollars for Michael to a
thousand.

"I've got the thousand, if that's what you mean."

"No," Daughtry shook his head. "I mean he ain't for sale at any price.
Besides, what do you want 'm for?"

"I like him," Del Mar answered. "Why do I come to this joint? Why does
the crowd come here? Why do men buy wine, run horses, sport actresses,
become priests or bookworms? Because they like to. That's the answer.
We all do what we like when we can, go after the thing we want whether we
can get it or not. Now I like your dog, I want him. I want him a
thousand dollars' worth. See that big diamond on that woman's hand over
there. I guess she just liked it, and wanted it, and got it, never mind
the price. The price didn't mean as much to her as the diamond. Now
that dog of yours--"

"Don't like you," Dag Daughtry broke in. "Which is strange. He likes
most everybody without fussin' about it. But he bristled at you from the
first. No man'd want a dog that don't like him."

"Which isn't the question," Del Mar stated quietly. "I like him. As for
him liking or not liking me, that's my look-out, and I guess I can attend
to that all right."

It seemed to Daughtry that he glimpsed or sensed under the other's
unfaltering cherubicness of expression a steelness of cruelty that was
abysmal in that it was of controlled intelligence. Not in such terms did
Daughtry think his impression. At the most, it was a feeling, and
feelings do not require words in order to be experienced or comprehended.

"There's an all-night bank," the other went on. "We can stroll over,
I'll cash a cheque, and in half an hour the cash will be in your hand."

Daughtry shook his head.

"Even as a business proposition, nothing doing," he said. "Look you.
Here's the dog earnin' twenty dollars a night. Say he works twenty-five
days in the month. That's five hundred a month, or six thousand a year.
Now say that's five per cent., because it's easier to count, it
represen