III

If punctuality is a virtue presaging business success, Allen gave
evidence, the following afternoon, of a brilliant future. Previously,
he had made no criticism of the condition in which his motor-car was
delivered to him at the garage, but this time the men found him
strangely unreasonable. The brasses had to be repolished, the hood
opened up, and the dust wiped from the long-neglected creases, and every
detail was inspected with a carefulness which created comment.

"Goin' to sell his car," one of the men remarked, sententiously, to
which sage comment his companion nodded acquiescence.

In spite of the delay thus caused, Allen shut off his power in front of
the hotel entrance at exactly the appointed hour. He bounded into the
lobby, and a few moments later was ushered into the elevator and guided
to the Gorhams' apartment.

"Why, it's Riley!" the caller exclaimed, enthusiastically, as the door
was opened for him by Mr. Gorham's aged retainer--"it's the same Riley
who used to box my ears when I tramped over his flower-beds in
Pittsburgh."

The old man regarded the visitor attentively. "Shure it's Misther Allen
Sanford, grown out iv his short pants into a fine young man, so he has."
A broad grin replaced the questioning expression on his face. "I did
box ye'er ears good, didn't I, sor? but go along wid yer, th' trouble