“'Sure, Governor, I ain't dolled up like John Drew.'
“There was a sort of cocky unconcern about the creature that gave his miserable state a kind of beggarly distinction. He was in among the very dregs of life, and he was not depressed about it.
“'But if I had a sawbuck,” he continued, “I could bulge your eye .... Couldn't point the way to one?'
“He arrested my answer with the little flourish of his fingers holding the stump of the cigarette.
“'Not work, Governor,' and he made a little duck of his head, 'and not murder.... Go as far as you please between 'em.'
“The fantastic manner of the derelict was infectious.
“'O. K.' I said. 'Go out and find me a man who is a deserter from the German Army, was a tanner in Bale and began life as a sailor, and I'll double your money—I'll give you a twenty-dollar bill.'
“The creature whistled softly in two short staccato notes.
“'Some little order,' he said. And taking a toothpick out of his pocket he stuck it into the stump of the cigarette which had become too short to hold between his fingers.
“At this moment a boy from the post office came to me with the daily report from Washington, and I got out of the chair, tipped the creature, and went into the hotel, stopping to pay McDuyal as I passed.