d
received such a cry of angry protest that it sent me to the right-about,
on tiptoe. The thief was not in the bath.

My heart sank as I bolted down for the office. The clerk had reinstated
himself behind the counter. He composedly greeted me, with calm voice and
with eyes that noted my costume.

"You can have your bath as soon as the porter gets back from the hanging,
sir," he said. "That is, unless you'd prefer to hurry up by toting your
own water. The party now in will be out directly."

"Never mind the bath," I uttered, breathless, in a voice that I scarcely
recognized, so piping and aghast it was. "I've been robbed--of money,
clothes, baggage, everything!"

"Well, what at?" he queried, with a glimmer of a smile.

"What at? In my room, I tell you. I had just changed to try on these
things; the street fight sounded; I was gone not five minutes and
nevertheless the room was sacked. Absolutely sacked."

"That," he commented evenly, "is hard luck."

"Hard luck!" I hotly rejoined. "It's an outrage. But you seem remarkably
cool about it, sir. What do you propose to do?"

"I?" He lifted his brows. "Nothing. They're not my valuables."

"But this is a respectable hotel, isn't it?"

"Perfectly; and no orphan asylum. We attend strictly to our business and
expect our guests to attend to theirs."

"I was told that it was safe for me to leave my things in my room."

"Not by me, sir. Read that." And he called my attention to a placard that
said, among other matters: "We are not responsible for property of any
nature left by guests in their rooms."

"Where's the chief of police?" I demanded. "You have officers here, I
hope."

"Yes, sir. The marshal is the chief of police, and he's the whole show.
The provost guard from the post helps out when necessary. But you'll find
the marshal at the mayor's office or else at the North Star gambling hall,
three blocks up the street. I don't think he'll do you any good, though.
He's not likely to bother with small matters, especially when he's
dealing faro bank. He has an interest in the North Star. You'll never see
your property again. Take my word for it."

"I won't? Why not?"

"You've played the gudgeon for somebody; that's all. Easiest thing in the
world for a smart gentleman to slip into your room while you were absent,
go through it, and make his getaway by the end of the hall, out over the
kitchen roof. It's been done many a time."

"A traveling salesman saw me dressi