ties
first time he was entertained by the Press Club boys. Well this guy, he
looked at the name for a minute. 'Roosevelt?' he says, slow. 'Oh, yes.
Seems t' me I've heard of him.' Well, at that the boys yelled. Thought
it was a good joke, seein' that Ted had been smeared all over the first
page of everything for years. But kid, I seen th' look in that man's
eyes when he said it, and he wasn't jokin', girl. An' it came t' me, all
of a sudden, that all the things he'd been talkin' about had happened
almost ten years back. After he'd made that break about Roosevelt he
kind of shut up, and strolled over to the piano and began t' play. You
know that bum old piano, with half a dozen dead keys, and no tune?"

I looked up for a moment. "He could make you think that it was a concert
grand, couldn't he? He hasn't forgotten even that?"

"Forgotten? Girl, I don't know what his accomplishments was when you
knew him, but if he was any more fascinatin' than he is now, then I'm
glad I didn't know him. He could charm the pay envelope away from a
reporter that was Saturday broke. Somethin' seemed t' urge me t' go up
t' him an' say: 'Have a game of billiards?'

"'Don't care if I do,' says he, and swung his long legs off the piano
stool and we made for the billiard room, with the whole gang after us.
Sa-a-ay, girl, I'm a modest violet, I am, but I don't mind mentionin'
that the general opinion up at the club is that I'm a little wizard with
the cue. Well, w'en he got through with me I looked like little sister
when big brother is tryin' t' teach her how to hold the cue in her
fingers. He just sent them balls wherever he thought they'd look pretty.
I bet if he'd held up his thumb and finger an' said, 'jump through
this!' them balls would of jumped."

Von Gerhard took a couple of quick steps in Blackie's direction. His
eyes were blue steel.

"Is this then necessary?" he asked. "All this leads to what? Has not
Mrs. Orme suffered enough, that she should undergo this idle chatter?
It is sufficient that she knows this--this man is here. It is a time for
action, not for words."

"Action's comin' later, Doc," drawled Blackie, looking impish.
"Monologuin' ain't my specialty. I gener'ly let the other gink talk. You
never can learn nothin' by talkin'. But I got somethin' t' say t' Dawn
here. Now, in case you're bored the least bit, w'y don't hesitate one
minnit t'--"

"Na, you are quite right, and I was hasty," said Von Gerhard, and his
eyes