. Henderson was dressed as a
squaw.

Penelope wore a flower girl's costume, improvised from the remains of
the chintz she had brought from New York. Jim viewed her with great
complaisance. No one could look like Pen, he thought, and he would dance
with her all the evening. Jim went as a monk. To his chagrin, when they
reached the hall he found that Pen had made Mrs. Ames a costume exactly
like her own, and with the complete face masks they wore, they might
have been twins. They were just of a height and Mrs. Ames danced well.
The children and the phonograph had long ago attended to that.

There was nothing stupid about the ball from the very start. The
policeman ended the grand march by arresting the hobo, who put up a
fight that included two of the dominoes. The orchestra swung into "La
Paloma" and in a moment the hall was full of swaying colors, drifting
through the golden desert dust that filled the room. There were twice as
many men at the ball as women. The latter were popular to the point of
utter exhaustion.

Henderson looked over the tallest domino, seized him by the throat and
with wild flourishes of his club, backed him into a corner.

"Say, Boss Still Jim," he whispered, "that old nut of a chairman
doesn't look as if he had anything but skim milk in his veins. But do
you sabez he's danced three times with that little fat ballet girl and
he's hugging the daylights out of her. He'd ought to be investigated."

The tall domino looked at the couple indicated. "I'll start
investigating, myself," he whispered.

"Wish I could get a dance with her, but I can't," said Henderson. "My
Missis knows who I am. I ain't got her spotted yet, though. Yes, I have.
That flower girl's her. I'd know the way she jerks her shoulders
anywhere."

He cut neatly in and separated the flower girl from the monk. "Look
here, Minnie," he said gently. "You ain't called on to dance like a
broncho, you know. Remember, you're the mother of a family! Cut out
having too many dances with that monk. He holds you too tight. I think
he's one of the committee men. You floss up to the tallest domino and
give him a good time. That's the Boss."

The flower girl sniggered and Henderson pushed her from him with marital
impatience and took an Indian squaw away from the hobo.

"Come on, little girl," he said. "You can dance all right. If my wife
wasn't here I'd show you a time."

The squaw stiffened and the monk swung her away from Jack, who
immed