e anything."

"But I borrowed two dollars from you, John, when I started _The
Bankers' Review."_

"No man can borrow money from me, Mr. Flummers. If he gets money from
me, it's his and not mine. We all love you, Mr. Flummers, and your
Kittymunks escapade, so thoroughly in keeping with our estimate of
you, has added strength to our affection. If you wish to keep friends,
Mr. Flummers, you must do nothing which they could not forecast for
you. The development of hitherto undiscovered traits, of an
unsuspected and therefore an inconsistent strength, is a dash of cold
water in the face of friendship. We are tied to you by a strong rope
made of the strands of weaknesses, Mr. Flummers."

"Oh, no."

"Yes, made of the fine-spun strands of weaknesses, Mr. Flummers. It is
better to be a joss of pleasing indiscretion than to be a man of great
strength, for the joss has no enemies, but sooner or later the strong
man must be overthrown by the hoard of weaklings that envy has set
against him. Do you desire something to drink, Mr. Flummers?"

"No."

"Now you place your feet on inconsistent and slippery ground, Mr.
Flummers. Remember that in order to hold our love you must not
surprise us."

"But I can't drink now; I have just had something to eat."

"Beware, Mr. Flummers. Inconsiderate eating caused a great general to
lose a battle, and now you are in danger. You may suffer superfluous
lunch to change our opinion of you, which means a withdrawal of our
love."

"Oh, wait a minute or two, John. But never mind. Say, there, boy,
bring me a little liquor. But, say, wasn't it funny that Detective
Stavers should give ten thousand dollars of that reward to the Home
for the Friendless? I used to work for the Pinkertons, and I know all
those guys, and there's not one of the whole gang that gives a snap
for charity. There's a mystery about it somewhere."

"Probably you can throw some light on it as you did on the Kittymunks
affair," Whittlesy suggested.

Flummers gave him a scallop. "Papa still holds you in the hollow of
his hand. Here you are; see?" He put his finger in the palm of his
hand. "You are right there; see? And when I want you, I'm going to
shut down, this way." He closed his hand. "And people will wonder what
papa's carrying around with him, but you'll know all the time."

"My," said Whittlesy, "what a dangerous man this fellow would be if he
had nerve! Oh, yes, people will wonder what you have in the hollow of
your