ith a dozen or two
meals of ordinary size. He thought he could live that long, for he felt
amazingly strong and bright. Never in his life before had he walked
with so great ease and lightness; his feet hardly touched the
ground--he ran and leaped. It did him good to tantalize his hunger, for
that would make his relish of the feast all the keener. Oh, but how
they would stare when he would give his order, and how comically they
would hang back, and how amazed they would be when he would throw a few
thousands of dollars on the counter and tell them to take their money
out of it and keep the change! Really, it was worth while to be so
hungry as that, for then eating became an unspeakable luxury. And one
must not be in too great a hurry to eat when one is so hungry--that is
beastly. How much of the joy of living do rich people miss from eating
before they are hungry--before they have gone three days and nights
without food! And how manly it is, and how great self-control it shows,
to dally with starvation when one has a dazzling fortune in one's
pocket and every restaurant has an open door! To be hungry without
money--that is despair; to be starving with a bursting pocket--that is
sublime! Surely the only true heaven is that in which one famishes in
the presence of abundant food, which he might have for the taking, and
then a gorged stomach and a long sleep.

The starving wretch, speculating thus, still kept from food. He felt
himself growing in stature, and the people whom he met became pygmies.
The streets widened, the stars became suns and dimmed the electric
lights, and the most intoxicating odors and the sweetest music filled
the air. Shouting, laughing, and singing, Kimberlin joined in a great
chorus that swept over the city, and then----

* * * * *

The two detectives who had traced the famous bank-robber to the saloon
in Mason Street, where Kimberlin had encountered the stranger of the
pallid face, left the saloon; but, unable to pursue the trail farther,
had finally returned. They found the door of booth No. 7 locked. After
rapping and calling and receiving no answer, they burst open the door,
and there they saw two men--one of middle age and the other very
young--sitting perfectly still, and in the strangest manner imaginable
staring at each other across the table. Between them was a great pile
of money, arranged neatly in parcels. Near at hand were an empty
absinthe bott