Almost on his heels a young man in immaculate riding-clothes sauntered
into the room. He had the assured ease of one who has the run of the
house. Miss Whitford introduced the two young men and Bromfield looked
the Westerner over with a suave insolence in his dark, handsome eyes.
Clay recognized him immediately. He had shaken hands once before with
this well-satisfied young man, and on that occasion a fifty-dollar bill
had passed from one to the other. The New Yorker evidently did not
know him.
It became apparent at once that Bromfield had called to go riding in
the Park with Miss Whitford. That young woman came up to say good-bye
to her new acquaintance.
"Will you be here when I get back?"
"Not if our friends outside give me a chance for a getaway," he told
her.
Her bright, unflinching eyes looked into his. "You'll come again and
let us know how you escaped," she invited.
"I'll ce'tainly do that, Miss Whitford."
"Then we'll look for you Thursday afternoon, say."
"I'll be here."
"If the police don't get you."
"They won't," he promised serenely.
"When you're quite ready, Bee," suggested Bromfield in a bored voice.
She nodded casually and walked out of the room like a young Diana,
straight as a dart in her trim slenderness.
Clay slipped out of the house by the back way, cut across to the
subway, and took a downtown train. He got out at Forty-Second Street
and made his way back to the clothing establishment of I. Bernstein.
That gentleman was in his office in the rear of the store. Lindsay
walked back to it, opened and closed the door, locked it, and put the
key in his pocket.
The owner of the place rose in alarm from the stool where he was
sitting. "What right do you got to lock that door?" he demanded.
"I don't want to be interrupted while I'm sellin' you this suit, Mr.
Bernstein," the cowpuncher told him easily, and he proceeded to unwrap
the damp package under his arm. "It's a pippin of a suit. The color
won't run or fade, and it's absolutely unshrinkable. You won't often
get a chance at a suit like this. Notice the style, the cut, the
quality of the goods. And it's only goin' to cost you fifty-five
dollars."
The clothing man looked at the misshapen thing with eyes that bulged.
"Where is it you been with this suit--in the East River, my friendt?"
he wanted to know.
"I took a walk along Riverside Drive. That's all. I got a strong
guarantee with this suit when I bought it. I'm goin' to give you the
same one I got. It won't shrink or fade and it will wear to beat a
'Pache pup. Oh, you won't make any mistake buyin' this suit."
"You take from me an advice. Unlock that door and get out."
"I can give you better advice than that. Buy this suit right away.
You'll find it's a bargain."
The steady eyes of the Westerner daunted the merchant, but he did not
intend to give up fifty-five dollars without a murmur.
"If you don't right avay soon open that door I call the police. Then
you go to jail, ain't it?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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