taken so was too powerful a stimulant. He must
brace himself.

He settled into one of the big chairs, closing his eyes to the wonders
about him, and tried to think more soberly. He felt as though he must
dull his quickened senses in some way. His unsheathed nerves quivered
back from so direct a contact with life.

"Quiet, old man, quiet," he cautioned himself. "There 's a lot of
things you wish to do in these next few days. So you must sober
down--you must get a grip on yourself."

He rose to his feet determinedly. He must work out of such moods as
this. One of the first things for him to do was to buy a decent
personal outfit. As soon as he gave his mind a definite object upon
which to work, his thoughts instantly cleared. It was just some such
matter-of-fact task as this which he needed.

He went down-stairs, and stepping into a taxicab, was whisked to one of
the large retail stores. He had no time to squander upon a tailor, but
he was successful in securing a good fit in ready-made clothing. He
bought several street suits, evening clothes, overcoats and hats, much
silk underwear--a luxury he had always promised himself in that ghost
future--and an extravagant supply of cravats, gloves, socks, and odds
and ends. He omitted nothing necessary to make him feel a well-dressed
man so far as he could find it ready made. There was nothing conceited
about Donaldson, nothing of the fop, but he enjoyed both the feeling
and the appearance of rich garments. He hired a messenger boy who
announced his name as Bobby and who followed along at his heels,
collecting the bundles and carrying them out to the waiting cab.

He was a fresh cheeked youngster with a quick interest in things. He
could n't make up his mind whether Donaldson was really an Indian
prince or whether as a result of drinking he merely felt like one. As
time passed and he saw that the man was neither an oriental nor drunk,
his imagination then wavered between accepting him as an English duke
or a member of the Vanderbilt family.

Donaldson perceived the keen interest the boy was taking in his
purchases, saw the wonder in his eyes grow, based upon a faith that
still accepted Aladdin as an ever-present possibility, and realized
that Bobby was getting almost as much fun out of this game as he
himself. He began to humor him further by consulting his taste in the
matter of ties and waistcoats, though he found that the latter's
sporting instincts led