"I came to consult you," continued Sally; "to ask your advice." She looked about her. The room was very quiet, much quieter than her own room at school, for the two men drinking whiskey and water had stopped their talking, upon Sally's entrance. It had been no more than a low hum of voices, at most, and the man with his Tom and Jerry made no more noise than did the man sipping his ale and reading his paper. Sally thought that she would like to have Patty glance in there for a minute. "Well," said Mr. Gilfeather slowly, "perhaps I can find a place where we can talk without interruption. Will you--" "Why can't we sit down behind some of these lovely palms?" asked Sally hastily. Mr. Gilfeather looked at her quickly. He was sensitive on the subject of palms and ferns--everlasting ones, furnished by the Everlasting Decorating Company. But Sally seemed unconscious. His suspicions were unfounded. He nodded and led the way, and Sally followed, penetrating the seclusion of three of the customers, to a table in another corner. Sally sat down and Mr. Gilfeather sat opposite. He hesitated. "I suppose you wouldn't do me the honor to take something with me, now?" he asked. Sally smiled and shook her head. "A glass of lemonade or a cup of tea? I can have tea in a minute--good tea, too, Miss Ladue." "Why, thank you, Mr. Gilfeather. I can't see any reason why I shouldn't take a cup of tea with you. I should like it very much." He leaned back, crooked his finger at a white-aproned youth, and gave his order. One would not imagine, from any sign that the youth gave, that it was not quite the usual order. As Mr. Gilfeather had promised, in less than a minute it was on the table: tea and sugar and sliced lemon and cream. "We have a good many orders for tea," remarked Mr. Gilfeather, in answer to Sally's look of surprise. "I try to have the best of every kind." Sally helped herself to a lump of sugar and a slice of lemon. "I must confess that I didn't suppose you ever had an order for tea." "Yes," he replied thoughtfully. "But we don't often have customers like you, Miss Ladue. It is an honor which I appreciate." "But," Sally interposed, "you don't know, yet, what my errand is." "It don't make no difference what your errand is," said Mr. Gilfeather; "your visit honors me. Whatever you ask my advice about, I'll give you my best and thank you for coming to me." Sally looked at him with a smile in her eyes. "What I wanted to see you about, Mr. Gilfeather, was gambling. Do--" "What?" asked the astonished Mr. Gilfeather, with a penetrating look at Sally. "You ain't going to--" Sally laughed outright, attracting to herself the attention of the two whiskey-and-waters. Tom and Jerry was consumed and had just gone out. "No," she said merrily, "I'm not going to. I only meant that I wanted to see--to know whether you knew about it."