"Box cracked?" repeated Jimmy. "An ice-box or a hot box?" His visitor grinned. "Safe," he explained. "Oh," said Jimmy, "if I ever want any one to break into a safe, come to you, huh?" "You get me," replied the other. "All right," said Jimmy, laughing, "I'll call on you. That the only name you got, Mr. Lizard?" "That's all--just the Lizard. Now I gotta be beatin' it." "Goin' to crack a box?" asked Jimmy. The other smiled his lip smile and turned toward the door. "Wait a second," said Jimmy. "What would you have gotten on this watch of mine?" "It would have stood me about twenty bucks." Jimmy reached into his pocket and drew forth a roll of bills. "Here," he said, handing the other two tens. "Naw," said the Lizard, shoving the proffered money away. "I'm no cheap skate." "Come on--take it," said Jimmy. "I may want a box cracked some day." "All right," said the Lizard, "if you put it that way, bo." "I should think," said Jimmy, "that a man of your ability could earn a living by less precarious methods." "You would think so," replied the Lizard. "I've tried two or three times to go straight. Wore out my shoes looking for a job. Never landed anything that paid me more than ten bucks per, and worked nine or ten hours a day, and half the time I couldn't get that." "I suppose the police hounded you all the time, too," suggested Jimmy. "Naw," said the Lizard; "dat's all bunk. De fellows that couldn't even float down a sewer straight pull dat. Once in a while dey get it in for some guy, but dey're glad enough to leave us alone if we leave dem alone. I worked four hours to-day, maybe six before I get through, and I'll stand a chance of makin' all the way from fifty dollars to five thousand. Suppose I was drivin' a milk-wagon, gettin' up at t'ree o'clock in the mornin' and workin' like hell--how much would I get out of dat? Expectin' every minute some one was goin' tuh fire me. Nuthin' doin'--dey can't nobody fire me now. I'm my own boss." "Well," said Jimmy, "your logic sounds all right, but it all depends upon the viewpoint. But I'll tell you: you've offered me your services; I'll offer you mine. Whenever you want a job, look me up. I'm going to be general manager of a big concern here, and you'll find me in the next issue of the telephone directory." He handed the Lizard his card. "Tanks," said the latter. "If you don't want a box cracked any sooner than I want a job, the chances are we will never meet again. So-long," and he was gone as noiselessly as he had come.