een combed fine by a corps of inspectors
whose dutiful curiosity had been abnormally stimulated by the prospect
of a ten-thousand-dollar reward. Not a few passengers had been obliged
to submit to the indignity of personal search--Staff and Alison in their
number; the latter for no reason that Staff could imagine; the former
presumably because he had roomed with the elusive Mr. Iff on the way
over. He had also been mulcted a neat little sum as duty on that
miserable hat, which he had been obliged to declare as a present for a
friend.

In memory of this he now rose, marched over to the bandbox, innocently
reposing in the middle of the floor, and dispassionately lifted it the
kick he had been promising it ever since the first day of their
acquaintance.

It sailed up prettily, banged the wall with a hollow noise and dropped
to the floor with a grievous dent in one side.

There--out of his way--Staff left it. Immeasurably mollified, he
proceeded to unpack and put his house in order. By the time this was
done to his satisfaction and Shultz had dragged the empty trunks into
the hall, to be carried down-stairs and stored in the cellar, it was
evening and time to dress. So Staff made himself clean with much water
and beautiful with cold steel and resplendent with evening clothes, and
tucked the manuscript of _A Single Woman_ into the pocket of a light
topcoat and sallied forth to dine with Jules Max and Alison Landis.

It was late, something after midnight, when he returned, driving up to
his house in a taxicab and a decidedly disgruntled frame of mind. Alison
had been especially trying with regard to the play; and Max, while
privately letting the author see that he thought him in the right in
refusing to make changes until rehearsals had demonstrated their
advisability, and in spite of his voluble appreciation of the play's
merits, had given Alison the support she demanded. The inference was
plain: the star was to be humoured even at the cost of a crippled play.
Between love for the woman and respect for his work, desire to please
her and determination not to misrepresent himself to the public, Staff,
torn this way and that, felt that he had at length learned the true
meaning of "the horns of dilemma." But this reflection availed nothing
to soothe his temper.

When he got out of the cab a short but sharp argument ensued with the
operator; it seemed that "the clock" was out of order and not
registering--had struck in confo