fford it--unless you know more about her, too, than I do."

Iff shook his head, dissatisfied. "All right," he said wearily. "Now
what're you going to do?"

"I'm going to try to snatch a few hours' sleep. There's no reason why I
shouldn't, now, with nothing to do before noon."

"Pleasant dreams," said Iff sourly, as Staff marched off to his bedroom.

Then he sat down on the edge of the divan, hugging the dressing-gown
round him, scowled vindictively at nothing and began thoughtfully to
gnaw a bony knuckle.

In the other room, his host was undressing with surprising speed. In
spite of his nap, he was still tremendously tired; perhaps the reaction
caused by Eleanor's reassurance capping the climax of his excitement had
something to do with the sense of complete mental and physical fatigue
that swept over him the instant his back rested upon the bed. Within
two minutes he was fast asleep.

But in the study Mr. Iff kept vigil, biting his knuckles what time he
was not depleting his host's stock of cigarettes.

Daylight broadened over the city. The sun rose. Not to be outdone, so
did Mr. Iff--moving quietly round the room, swearing beneath his breath
as his conscience dictated, gradually accumulating more and more of the
articles of clothing which he had so disdainfully discarded some hours
earlier.

The telephone interrupted him somewhat after six o'clock. He answered
it, assuming Staff's identity for the moment. When the conversation had
closed, he sat in reverie for some minutes, then consulted the telephone
book and called two numbers in quick succession. Immediately thereafter
he tiptoed into the bedroom, assured himself that Staff was fast asleep
and proceeded calmly to rifle that gentleman's pockets, carefully
placing what he found in an orderly array upon the bureau. In the end,
bringing to light a plump bill-fold, he concluded his investigations.

The pigskin envelope contained a little less than four-hundred dollars,
mostly in gold Treasury certificates. Mr. Iff helped himself generously
and replaced the bill-fold. Then he returned to the study, found paper
and pens and wrote Staff a little note, which he propped against the
mirror on the bedroom dresser. Finally, filling one of his pockets with
cigarettes, he smiled blandly and let himself out of the apartment and,
subsequently, of the house.

Staff slept on, sublimely unconscious, until the sun, slipping round to
the south, splashed his face with moulten