Skippy, indeed, would have sworn to anything just for the look that lighted up the velvety eyes in the joy of salvation. It is doubtful if he even heard half of the program of his future existence. There was something irresistible in the softness of her eyes and the fascinating lisp. He was face to face at last with a good influence. He had met, not the type of girl that men play with lightly or madly for a month or a day, but a woman, the kind rough coarse men look up to as to a polar star, the kind of woman you think of winning after years of struggle, that keeps men straight and their thoughts on higher things, the kind of woman that pulls a drunkard out of the gutter, reclaims him and makes a genius out of the wreck. He would be saved by her, he was bound he would--no matter what sacrifices he would have to make to keep in proper sinful condition. CHAPTER XXXIII SUDDEN INTEREST IN THE BIBLE SNORKY GREEN had experienced so many shocks in his intimate contact with his chum's imagination that he had come to believe the future could hold no surprises for him. But that evening Skippy after a long searching through bookcases said with a worried air: "I say, Snorky, where do you keep the Bible?" "The--the Bible?" said Snorky faintly. "Sure, the Bible." Snorky's first thought was that Skippy must be the victim of a secret malady and ready to make his will. His next was even more alarming. "You're not thinking of anything rash, are you, old horse?" "What the deuce?" "You and Jennie?" "What the Sam Blazes are you driving at?" "Thought you were looking up the marriage service," said Snorky facetiously. "Shucks, no. Nothing of the sort. I just, I just want to look up a reference." "What reference?" "It's of a personal nature, very personal," said Skippy. At the end of an hour's search Snorky finally produced a Bible from the cook and watched Skippy turn through the pages in a perplexed manner. "I've watched that coot do some queer things," he thought, scratching his ear, "but I'll be jiggswiggered if I can figure out what he's up to now." At the end of half an hour Skippy looked up nonplussed. "What do you know about the Bible, anyhow?" "I know a lot," said Snorky astutely. "Where do you get the ten commandments, anyhow?" Snorky repeated the question, more and more perplexed. "Why it's in Genesis isn't it?" "Naw, I looked all through that." "How about Solomon? He was wise to everything." "Who was the guy who went up to Heaven? Perhaps he got 'em." "Let's ask the cook." Which was done. "Now what in the Sam Hill has Skippy to do with the ten commandments or the ten commandments with Skippy?" said Snorky, observing the extraordinary concentration on his chum's face as he considered them carefully one by one. "Perhaps the heat has hit him and he's going in for religion."