He had revolved several future plans of action in his mind before
reaching the vitreous substratum of the generous high-ball. His
first indignant impulse was to give up the joint apartment in a
fortnight.

May the first was rapidly coming on by Nature's calendar of leaf
and bird, of deepening green in the park and light-hearted woman's
smartening attire.

"No," he resentfully cried, as he threw his cigar away and paid his
bill, "that would only show them my hand. I'll make no open enemy
of Ferris."

"But I will dodge Worthington's spies and then lock up my heart.
I will keep on good terms with Worthington's lickspittle and try
and later reach the secret of all this strange behavior. The old
man seems unwilling to let me go out of his control, and yet he
has tied me down to this ironclad money mill--as a slave rubbing
the lamp for him." It opened a gloomy future to him, this dreary
hour of introspection.

Randall Clayton had not lost all the opportunities of his New York
life for a peep behind the metropolitan scenes. He knew that there
was an inside view to be had of the clubs, the great hotels, the
show life of the smart set, the pretentious apartment houses, the
banks and theaters, the ambitious schemes of business and professional
men.

One by one the shams had yielded to his prying gaze, and, but too