"Freezin', an' so'm I," said the other shortly. "You keep me waiting a devil of a time." "Business, oh my friend, business. Can I utter a word to the ears of your nationality more convincing? I was necessitated to converse with my host, the rich and amiable Early. Ah, the nature of humanity is eternally interesting." His companion grinned. "Which means, being interpreted, you've got some lay, I suppose. What is it!" "Abruptness is to me foreign," said the Swami, waving his great hand with its combination of fat palm and taper fingers. "It disturbs me. Perhaps, some day, I shall need tell you. The amiable Early is as are all mankind. On the one side he gropes among infinities. Do we not all so? On the other side he is tied by this body of clay to the groveling earth. Are we not all so? Am not even I myself?" The Swami turned benevolently toward the other. "You bet! And you can sling language about it!" said the man, and he opened his rat's mouth and laughed without noise. Even Ram Juna's face relaxed into its Buddha smile, calm, inscrutable, as the two gazed on each other. Suddenly the younger drew himself together. "Well, I ain't got no time to spare," he said. "Are they ready?" "I, as well as you Americans, can be the votary of business," answered Ram Juna. "The first principle of business is promptitude. My friend, they are ready." "Well, hand 'em over," said the little man. "Now my job begins; and I guess it's as ticklish as yours. You may need the skill, but I need the gall." "The daring of the leopard when it leaps from the bush where it crouches, the daring which is half cunning, eh, my friend?" said the Swami comfortably. "Here, take the package and go thy way. There will be more in the future. These I brought with me from India, and even the eagle customs found them not. Many night-hours have I spent in preparing them, and mine eyes have been robbed of sleep. It is no slight task to produce a masterpiece." "Well, you certainly are a dandy," said the man, examining the contents of his package. "I never seen anything like it. And those big hands, too." "My hands obey the skill of my mind. And here, under the shadow of the Early, I can work with purer courage. This is the perfection of a place. It was the idea of genius to come here. Hold, let me examine the way before thou goest." "Aw, there won't be any body in the garden at this time o' night, and at this time o' year." "Nay, but it is the wise man who leaves no loophole for mistake," said the Hindu, with practical caution. He blew out the light and stepped in darkness to the entrance with the air of one who would refresh his soul by gazing at the stars and wiping out the trivialities of the day. After he had looked at the heavens, his eyes fell with piercing swiftness upon the shadows of the garden, its bushes, manlike or animal-like in the night.