station, falling into line with the other
men who were marching out on relief.

A half hour later he dropped into the office of the police surgeon, and
was greeted warmly by the old gentleman.

MacFarland was smoking his pipe in comfort after the cares and worries
of a busy day.

"Any more trouble with the gangsters, Burke?" he asked.

Bob, after a little hesitation decided to tell him about the adventure
of the night before.

"I want your advice, Doc, for you understand these things. Do you
suppose there's any danger of Lorna's going out with those fellows
again? You don't suppose that they were actually going to entice her
into some house, do you?"

MacFarland stroked his gray whiskers.

"Well, my boy, that is not what we Scotchmen would call a vera canny
thought! You speak foolishly. Why, don't you know that is organized
teamwork just as fine as they make it? Those two fellows, Baxter, I
think you said, and Craig, are typical 'cadets.' They are the pretty
boys who make the acquaintance of the girls, and open the way for
temptation, which is generally attended to by other men of stronger
caliber. This fellow Shepard is undoubtedly one of the head men of
their gang. If Jimmie the Monk is mixed up in it that is the
connecting link between these fellows and the East Side. And it's back
to the East Side that the trail nearly always leads, for over in the
East Side of New York is the feudal fastness of the politician who
tells the public to be damned, and is rewarded with a fortune for his
pains. The politician protects the gangster; the gangster protects the
procurer, and both of them vote early and often for the politician."

Bob sighed.

"Isn't there some way that this young girl can be warned about the
dangers she is running into? It's terrible to think of a thing like
this threatening any girl of good family, or any other family for that
matter."

"You must simply warn her sister and have her watch the younger girl
like a hawk."

MacFarland cleaned out his pipe with a scalpel knife, and put in
another charge of tobacco.

He puffed a blue cloud before Bob had replied.

"I wish there were some way I could get co-operation on this. I'm
going to hunt these fellows down, Doc. But it seems to me that the
authorities in this city should help along."

"They are helping along. The District Attorney has sent up gangster
after gangster; but it's like a quicksand, Burke--new rascals seem to
slid