it was too big a
chance, for there is a secret fraternity among chauffeurs and the
denizens of the Tenderloin which is more powerful than any benevolent
order ever founded. This man would undoubtedly tell of his destination
to some other driver, surely to the starter at the restaurant. Then it
would be a comparatively simple matter for Baxter and Jimmie the Monk
to learn the details in enough fullness to track his own identity. For
certain reasons, already formulated, Bobbie Burke wished to keep Jimmie
and his gangsters in blissful ignorance of his own knowledge of their
activities.

"This is my girl, and one of those fellows tried to steal her," said
Burke in a gruff voice. "I was onto the game, and that's why I had the
starter get you ready. She lives on West Seventy-first Street, near
West End Avenue. Now, you run along on the right side of the street,
and I'll point out the house."

He was planning a second "double" on his trail. The chauffeur grunted
and started the machine again. The girl was moaning with pain in an
incoherent way.

As they rolled slowly down West Seventy-first Street Bobbie saw a house
which showed a light in the third floor. Presumably the storm door
would not be locked, as it would have been in case the tenants were
away. He knocked on the window.

The taxi came to a stop.

The chauffeur opened the door and Burke sprang out.

"Here's a ten-dollar bill, my boy," said Burke. "I'll have to square
her with her mother, so you come back here in twenty minutes and take
me down to that restaurant. I'm going to clean out that joint, and
I'll pay you another ten to help me. Are you game?"

The chauffeur laughed wisely.

"Am I game? Just watch me."

Burke lifted Lorna out and turned toward the steps.

"Now, don't leave me in the lurch. Be back in exactly twenty minutes,
and I'll be on the job--and we'll make it some job. But, don't let the
folks see you standing around, or they'll think I've been up to some
game. Her old man will start some shooting. Come back for me."

The chauffeur chuckled as he climbed into his car and drove away,
planning a little himself.

"Any guy that has a girl as swell as that one to live on this street
will be good for a hundred dollars before I get through with him," he
muttered as he took a chew of tobacco. "And I've got the number of
that house, too. Her old man will give a good deal to keep this out of
the papers. I know my business, eve