oming to an unimportant decision, Bell raised his hand to an
approaching cab. It had two men on the chauffeur's seat. Of course.
All taxis in Rio carry two men in front. One drives, and the other
lights his cigarettes, makes witty comments upon passing ladies, and
helps in collecting the fares from recalcitrant passengers. The extra
man is called the "secretary," and he assists materially in giving an
impression of haughty pride.

The taxi ground to the curb. The secretary reached behind him
indifferently and opened the door. Bell did not glance at him. He
stepped inside and settled down languidly.

"The Beira Mar," he said listlessly.

The taxi started off with a jolt. It is the invariable custom in Rio
de Janeiro. And besides, it reminds the passenger that he is merely a
customer, admitted to the cab on suffrance, and that he must be
suitably meek to those who will presently blandly ignore the amount
registered by the meter and demand a fare of from eight to
twenty-seven times the indicated amount.

* * * * *

The cab went shooting down the Avenida do Acre toward the harbor. The
Avenida do Acre is officially the Avenida Rio Blanco, and it should be
called by that name, only people forget. The Beira Mar, however, is
named with entire propriety. It is actually the edge of the sea, and
it is probably one of the two or three most beautiful driveways in the
world.

The cab whirled past the crowded sidewalks. Incredible numbers of
people, with an incredible variation in the shades of their
complexions, moved to and from with the peculiar aimlessness of a
Brazilian crowd. A stout and pompous negro politician from Bahia,
wearing an orchid in his button-hole, rubbed elbows with a striking
blonde lady of the sidewalks on his left, and forced a wizened little
silk-hatted _parda_--approximately an octoroon--to dodge about him in
order to progress. A young and languid person, his clothes the very
last expiring gasp of fashion, fingered his stick patiently. He wore
the painstakingly cultivated expression of bored disillusionment your
young Brazilian dandy considers aristocratic. It was very probable
that he shared a particularly undesirable bedroom with four or five
other young men in order to purchase such clothing, but then, _farenda
fita_--making a picture--is the national Brazilian sport.

Bell lighted a cigarette. It was not wise to regard the secretary of
this particular taxi too closel