t, old chap."

I did, but, dash it, it was such a rum idea--very oddest thing he had
said--and silly, you know. Fancy any one not being able to send out and
get money! I just got to thinking what a jolly queer idea it was and
lost part of what Billings was saying--something about how he managed to
get them to send a note for his clothes. Here is what I _did_ hear:

"And I had just got into the togs and stuffed the rubies and pajamas out
of sight in my pocket, when the particular brigand who had charge of my
coop came back. He almost threw a fit when he saw me. 'Where's
Twenty-seven?' he wanted to know. And then, before I could say a word,
he blustered up to me with: 'And say, what business _you_ got in here?
Clear out!' And you bet I didn't lose a single golden minute--I cleared.
You should have seen me beat it down that corridor! The fellow followed
me a little, grumbling to himself. Then he called to a cop who was just
coming in: 'Say, O'Keefe, run that young fat freak out of here, will
you? It's one of that bunch of visitors that went through just now.
Fresh thing--snooping into the cells!'

"And so the same cop that brought me there--the very same--was the one
that shoved me out of the door, warning me that I'd best not go poking
into the prisoners' cells again if I knew what was good for me!"

"By Jove!" I ventured sympathetically.

Billings nodded. "Of course, I knew it was a semi-lucid interval with
them all, but for all I knew it might pass any instant and some bat
discover I was a Dutch scrubwoman escaped from Hoboken. So I broke for
the first taxi and hit it up for the club."

Billings took a deep breath and went on:

"By George," he said, laughing nervously. "I felt like a dog with a can
to its tail hunting for a place to hide. Every time a fellow looked at
me I had heart failure until he called me by my own name. Bribed Eugene
to lie about my whereabouts until his face hurt and then I went to bed.
Sneaked out of my hole this evening to get a bite of something, and then
you ran me down.

"And Dicky"--Billings finished excitedly--"I was sure you had come to
drag me back to my dungeon, and I looked behind you, fully expecting to
see those two Irish pirates. If I had, I should have swooned in my soup,
that's all!"

I murmured my sympathy. And, by Jove, I certainly did have a heartache
about him, but of course I couldn't tell him why. I was getting him
quieted--I could see that--and he was so far mollif