At the hour of eight p. m., Peter was sitting at his home in all his pomp and grandeur, when the starched smile of Monroe irradially floated in upon his complacency in an hitherto unknown expansiveness. "You old tout," said Monroe feelingly; "you surprise us all by your new stunt." When Peter laughed, which he did now sometimes, he was the picture of a crying calf, if the simile is permissible; so when he broke his face into one of his cunning signs of mirth, Monroe could not but help feeling amused himself, and accordingly split his barren face up into waves of noncommittal wrinkles. "Ho, ho, ha, ha," cried Peter, forgetting now to rub his hands, and instead slapped his fat hand on his fat leg; "you old batches will have to fall in line. Look! and see how glorious it all is, Monroe; and to think that I have missed it all these twenty years! Ho, ho, ha, ha, he, he; you ought to try it, Monroe, and get those crimps out of your face!" Peter laughed at this jolly till tears ran down his cheeks. "Why, I should think you were happy, Peter, the way you are going on about it," said Monroe, gloomily. "Yes; try it, Monroe; you can get some one; can't you?" said Peter, with an extra bang on his fat leg as an extra emphasis to his seriousness. "I've never met my Fate--that is, no Fate that would care to take me," he remarked, with the smile gone. "How about Jarney's girl?" asked Peter, in a confidential tone. "That young chap, Winthrope, seems to have the way to her door all to himself," responded the gloomy one. "Who did you say?" "Winthrope." "I told you to get him out of the way." "Well?" "Well?" "He can't be got out so easy," cried Monroe, with asperity. "He's an immovable, unapproachable, indefinable young cuss, who can't be inveigled." "Have you given it up?" "Oh, not yet." "What you leading up to now?" asked Peter. "To have the boss send him to the New York office." "Will he send him?" "He may." "Say," said Peter, whisperingly, with an idea, "get him in the bribing line, and then let him drop." "He's beyond that," said the undaunted Monroe. "We are going to send him to New York; give him authority to handle money, and lay our net to catch him. This can be done. We will work it so slick, with Bate Yenger as his assistant, that he can't crawl out; and we'll keep the money for our trouble." "Good!" said Peter, forgetting himself and rubbing this time. "Go on?" "That's all." "Humph;" ejaculated Peter. "You are a genuine dough-god!" "You bear!" scowled Monroe--that is, he tried to scowl. "You unplastic scoundrel," shouted Peter, turning on him, "if you don't get him out of the way, and get that girl, I'll get your job away from you!" "Oh, no more of your jollying," said the putty-faced Monroe; "get down to business. How much do I get out of the swag I get with the girl?" "Half," replied Peter. "Well, it's worth trying for," said Monroe.