"I daren't, Aunt Abby. Sanford would find it out and he'd be
terribly annoyed. It's one of his idiosyncrasies, and I have to
bear it as long as I live with him!"

The gleam in the beautiful eyes gave a hint of desperate remedies
that might be applied to the case, but Ferdinand returned to the
room, and the two women quickly spoke of other things.

Hendricks' perfectly appointed and smooth-running car made the
trip to Newark in minimum time. Though the road was not a
picturesque one, the party was in gay spirits and the host was
indefatigable in his efforts to be entertaining.

"I've looked up this Hanlon person," he said. "and his record is
astonishing. I mean, he does astonishing feats. He's a juggler,
a sword swallower and a card sharp--that is, a card wizard. Of
course, he's a faker, but he's a clever one, and I'm anxious to
see what his game is this time. Of course, it's, first of all,
advertisement for the paper that's backing him, but it's a new
game. At least, it's new over here; they tell me it's done to
death in England."

"Oh, no, Alvord, it isn't a game," insisted Miss Ames; "if the
man is blindfolded, he can't play any tricks on us. And he
couldn't play tricks on newspaper men anyway--they're too bright
for that!"

"I think they are, too; that's why I'm interested. Warm enough,
Eunice?"