odded. "Same old angles, eh? Get enough to do the job,
they mug you. Stop halfway, and the halls are closed to you. Pretty
soon, they'll be trick-proof, anyhow; they're changing over to electric
eyes. Eh, you haven't forgotten me, cobber?"

Gordon hadn't. The old wreck had demanded five per cent of his winnings
for tipping him off. Mother Corey had too many cheap hoods among his
friends to be fooled with. Gordon counted out the money reluctantly,
while Izzy explained that they were going to be cops.

The old man shook his head, estimating what was left to Gordon. "Enough
to buy a corporal's job, pay for your suit, and maybe get by," he
decided. "Don't do it, cobber. You're the wrong kind. You take what
you're doing serious. When you set out to tinhorn a living, you're a
crook. Get you in a cop's outfit, and you'll turn honest. No place here
for an honest cop--not with elections coming up, cobber. Well, I guess
you gotta find out for yourself. Want a good room?"

Gordon's lips twitched. "Thanks, Mother, but I'll be staying inside the
dome, I guess."

"So'll I," the old man gloated. "Setting in a chair all day, being an
honest citizen. Cobber, I already own a joint there--a nice one, they
tell me. Lights. Two water closets. Big rooms, six-by-ten--fifty of
them, big enough for whole families. And strictly on the level, cobber.
It's no hide-out, like this."

He rolled the money in his greasy fingers. "Now, with what I get from
the pusher, I can buy off that hot spot on the police blotter. I can go
in the dome and walk around, just like you." His eyes watered, and a
tear went dripping down his nose. "I'm getting old. They'll be calling
me 'Grandmother' pretty soon. So I'm turning my Chicken House over to my
granddaughter and I'm going honest. Want a room?"

Gordon grinned, and nodded. Mother Corey knew the ropes, and could be
trusted. "Didn't know you had a granddaughter."

Izzy snorted, and Mother Corey grinned wolfishly. "You met her, cobber.
The blonde you shook down! Came up from Earth eight years ago, looking
for me. I sold her to the head of the East Point gang. Since she killed
him, she's been doing pretty well on her own. Mostly. Except when she
makes a fool of herself, like she did with you. But she'll come around
to where I'm proud of her, yet.... If you two want to carry in the snow,
collect, and turn it over to Commissioner Arliss for me--I can't pass
the dome till he gets it--I'll give you both rooms for