k to propitiate a possible God by
endowing churches and hospitals with a portion of his income. Try though
I might, I never could achieve the perfection of this man's contempt for
all other philosophies. The very fact of my going there in secret to that
dark place of his from out of the bright, respectable region in which I
lived was in itself an acknowledgment of this. I thought him a thief--a
necessary thief--and he knew it: he was indifferent to it; and it amused
him, I think, to see clinging to me, when I entered his presence, shreds
of that morality which those of my world who dealt with him thought so
needful for the sake of decency.

He was in bed, reading newspapers, as usual. An empty coffee-cup and a
plate were on the littered table.

"Sit down, sit down, Paret," he said. "What do you hear from the
Senator?"

I sat down, and gave him the news of Mr. Watling. He seemed, as usual,
distrait, betraying no curiosity as to the object of my call, his lean,
brown fingers playing with the newspapers on his lap. Suddenly, he
flashed out at me one of those remarks which produced the uncanny
conviction that, so far as affairs in the city were concerned, he was
omniscient.

"I hear somebody has been getting options on that tract of land beyond
the Heights, on the river."

He had "focussed."

"How did you hear that?" I asked.

He smiled.

"It's Grierson, ain't it?"

"Yes, it's Grierson," I said.

"How are you going to get your folks out there?" he demanded.

"That's what I've come to see you about. We want a franchise for
Maplewood Avenue."

"Maplewood Avenue!" He lay back with his eyes closed, as though trying to
visualize such a colossal proposal....

When I left him, two hours later, the details were all arranged, down to
Mr. Jason's consideration from Riverside Company and the "fee" which his
lawyer, Mr. Bitter, was to have for "presenting the case" before the
Board of Aldermen. I went back to lunch at the Boyne Club, and to receive
the congratulations of my friends. The next week the Riverside Company
was formed, and I made out a petition to the Board of Aldermen for a
franchise; Mr. Bitter appeared and argued: in short, the procedure so
familiar to modern students of political affairs was gone through. The
Maplewood Avenue residents rose en masse, supported by the City
Improvement League. Perry Blackwood, as soon as he heard of the petition,
turned up at my office. By this time I was occupying Mr. Wa