you this for gospel truth--there isn't one
of that crowd that I couldn't, if I liked, haul back to New York on some
charge or another. You wonder why I don't do it. I'll tell you. It's
because I am waiting--waiting until I can bring home something more
serious, something that will keep them out of the way for just as long
as possible. Do you follow me, Mr. Tavernake?"

"I suppose I do," Tavernake answered, doubtfully. "You are only talking
of the men, of course?"

Pritchard smiled.

"My young friend," he agreed, "I am only talking of the men. At the same
time, I guess I'm not betraying any confidence, or telling you anything
that Mrs. Wenham Gardner doesn't know herself, when I say that she's
doing her best to qualify for a similar position."

"You mean that she is doing something against the law!" Tavernake
exclaimed, indignantly. "I don't believe it for a moment. If she is
associating with these people, it's because she doesn't know who they
are."

Pritchard flicked the ash from his cigar.

"Well," he said, "every man has a right to his own opinions, and for my
part I like to hear any one stick up for his friends. It makes no odds
to me. However, here are a few facts I am going to bring before you.
Four months ago, one of the turns at a vaudeville show down Broadway
consisted of a performance by a Professor Franklin and his two
daughters, Elizabeth and Beatrice. The professor hypnotized, told
fortunes, felt heads, and the usual rigmarole. Beatrice sang, Elizabeth
danced. People came to see the show, not because it was any good but
because the girls, even in New York, were beautiful."

"A music-hall in New York!" Tavernake muttered.

The detective nodded.

"Among the young bloods of the city," he continued, "were two brothers,
as much alike as twins, although they aren't twins, whose names were
Wenham and Jerry Gardner. There's nothing in fast life which those
young men haven't tried. Between them, I should say they represented
everything that was known of debauchery and dissipation. The eldest
can't be more than twenty-seven to-day, but if you were to see them
in the morning, either of them, before they had been massaged and
galvanized into life, you'd think they were little old men, with just
strength enough left to crawl about. Well, to cut a long story short,
both of them fell in love with Elizabeth."

"Brutes!" Tavernake interjected.

"I guess they found Miss Elizabeth a pretty tough nut to crack," t