"I told you," he replied blandly. "I'm making this survey of American night life. Would you like to give me the lowdown on the standards of undress in your parish?"
"Want to play hard to handle, eh?"
"Not particularly. I just want to keep a few remnants of my private life."
Kinglake bit down on his cigar and stared impartially at the Saint's tranquil profile.
After a little while he said: "From what I remember reading, your private life is always turning into a public problem. So that's why I'm talking to you. As far as I know, you aren't wanted anywhere right now, and there aren't any charges out against you. I've also heard of a lot of officers here and there leading with their chins by thinking too fast as soon as they saw you. I'm not figuring on making myself another of 'em. Your story sounds straight so far, or it would if anybody else told it. It's too bad your reputation would make anybody look twice when you tell it. But okay. Until there's evidence against you, you're in the clear. So I'm just telling you. While you're in Galveston, you stay in line. I don't want your kind of trouble in my town."
"And I hope you won't have it," said the Saint soberly. "And I can tell you for my part that there won't be any trouble that someone else doesn't ask for."
There was a prolonged and unproductive reticence, during which Simon devoted himself wholeheartedly to digesting the scenic features of the approach over the channel of water known as West Bay which separates the island of Galveston from the mainland.
"The Oleander City," he murmured dreamily, to relieve the awkward silence. "The old stamping grounds of Jean Lafitte. A shrine that every conscientious freebooter ought to visit… Would you like me to give you a brief and somewhat garbled resume of the history of Galveston, Lieutenant?"
"No," Kinglake said candidly. "The current history of the town is enough to keep me busy. Turn at the next light."
Simon drove him to Headquarters, and lighted another cigarette while the Lieutenant gathered his rather ungainly legs together and disembarked.