he
telephone. "No soap, Chief. O K. O K. All right--put the rewrite man
on." And for the next ten minutes he went over the events at the
Dinkmans', carefully spelling out all names including the napoleonic
firechief's. I began to suspect Gootes wasnt so inefficient a reporter
as he appeared.

The story given in, he hung up and turned to me. "Well, so long, little
man--been nice knowing you."

"But--what about meeting the discoverer of the Metamorphizer?"

"Oh, that. Well, W R thinks we don't need him anymore. Not enough in
that angle."

I suspected he was bluffing; still it was possible he wasnt. In such a
delicate situation there was nothing I could do but bluff in turn. If
you are a good salesman, I always say, you must have psychology at your
fingertips. "Very well, Mr Gootes; perhaps I shall see you again
sometime."

I was immediately confronted by a Frenchman, affable, volatile,
affectionate. "Ah cher ami, do not leave me with the abruptness. You
desolate mon coeur. Alors--return to me the twenty dollars."

"But, Mr Gootes--"

"None of it, bud." He whisked the cards out and showed them to me, the
ace of spades ghoulishly visible, its ominousness tempered only by the
word "Bicycle" printed across it. "Don't hold out on your Uncle Jacson
or I might have the boys take you for a little trip. A block of concrete
tastefully inscribed 'A Weener' ought to make an amusing base for a
birdbath, say."

"Listen, Gootes." I was firm. "I'm reasonably certain youve been
authorized to advance me the other thirty, but I hope we're both
sensible people and I'll be glad to sign a receipt for the full amount
if youll let me have twentyfive."

"Albert, youre a fine fellow--a prince." On a page from his notebook he
wrote, _Of Jacson Gootes, $50 U.S._ and I signed it. He handed me
another twentydollarbill and put his wallet away. "Charge the other five
to agent's fees," he suggested. "Lead us to your Steinmetz."

You just can't expect everyone to have the same standards of probity, so
philosophically I pocketed my loss and gains together. Life is full of
ups and downs and take the bad with the good. Gootes was in high spirits
after his piece of chicanery and as we went down the street he
practiced, quite unsuccessfully, a series of ventriloquial exercises.

_10._ The appearance of the apartmenthouse drew the comment from him
that it was a good thing for their collective bloodpressures the Chamber
of Commerce and the All Y