"Tst," said the beggar. "Move on. Here's a plain-clothes man."
The shepherd moved on as if he had been pricked by an awl; since it was not among the police that he felt called upon to separate the black sheep from the white.
The plain-clothes man approached loitering. He might have been a citizen in good standing and with nothing better to do than hobnob with whatever persons interested him upon his idle saunterings.
"How many pairs of laces have you sold this morning?" he asked.
"Nary a pair, charitable sir," returned the beggar.
"Speaking of shoe-laces," said the plain-clothes man, "what is your opinion of head-gear?"
"Bullish," said the beggar. "Straw hats will be worn next winter."
The eyes of both men sparkled with a curious exhilaration. The plain-clothes man drew a deep and sudden breath, and appeared to shiver. So a soldier may breathe at the command to charge; so a thoroughbred shivers when the barrier is about to fall.
"There will be nice pickings," said the beggar; "there will be enough geese to feed ten thousand."
The plain-clothes man dropped a penny into the tin cup. "By the way," he asked professionally, "where can I lay hands on Red Monday?"