"Say, can you beat it?" admiringly asked Max of Andrew Barrett. "Where does he get it?" And he tapped his own cranium sadly. "And, Mulligan, if you should be locked up," added H. R., "the first thing you do when you get to jail is to declare a hunger strike. This will stamp you as Crusaders! And Crusaders never frighten Business." "Great heavens!" whispered Max. "Do we get the--" began Mulligan, anxiously. "Nothing need be said about drinking. You'll get your forty." "They can do their damnedest," said Mulligan, looking like a hero-martyr. "Refer all reporters to your counsel," finally advised Max. "Forget everything else, but not that, not that!" IX The four great actors, distinguished-looking, positively Beau Brummelesque, in shining top-hats of the latest fashion, went out of the Allied Arts Building to make history. They walked ahead abreast, their eyes fixed straight ahead. Pedestrians instinctively parted to let them by. Then they asked questions. Andrew Barrett's agents answered the questions. "They are the advance-guard. You ought to see what's coming!" The faint sense of waiting for something worth waiting for, that so far only the annual police parade has been able to arouse in New York was discernible on the faces of the spectators. They began to cluster on the edges of the sidewalks. The chauffeurs began to look anxious. Honestly, they did! Andrew Barrett had shown to the other shop-keepers the Valiquet designs and told them to watch for the great jewelers' astounding coup. He booked twenty-two orders for the next week. At two o'clock the artists sallied forth once more. The throngs opened for them to pass. Those spectators who had put off lunching to see the epoch-making stunt were rewarded. They saw four perfectly attired gentlemen in top-hats, carrying dazzling escutcheons worthy of the premier jewel-shop in the world. The six, walking professionally, carried the most beautiful boards ever seen, with these legends: [Illustration: THIS BOARD DESIGNED BY VALIQUET'S PREMIER JEWELERS OF AMERICA] [Illustration: WONDERS OF THE WORLD! THE OLD WORLD HAD SEVEN! THE NEW WORLD HAS ONLY ONE: VALIQUET'S] They were followed by the six picked sandwiches, in their working-clothes, but with wonderful boards. [Illustration: FOR SILVER AND GOLD, PEARLS, DIAMONDS, RUBIES, EMERALDS, EXCLUSIVE DESIGNS VALIQUET'S WHO DESIGNED THIS BOARD] [Illustration: VALIQUET'S OFFICIAL DESIGNERS OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF SANDWICH ARTISTS] The sandwich was the thing! The sandwich-men were merely artists. The spectators recalled that ultimately all men and all women must become sandwiches. It made New-Yorkers realize that Death was still on the job. This gave them something to talk about that night at dinner, before dancing. Also three hundred and fifty thousand people saw the O. K. of "_H. R._" It is easy to remember two letters.