Nobody was to be told and, in particular, the news was to be kept from Janet. He didn’t expect to indulge this rather childish whim for more than a few days. All New York would be talking about his good luck by that time, no doubt. "My dear fellow! A paltry two millions?" said Pryor with a short laugh. "A mere pebble on the beach. Why, the reigning plutocrats here hand out millions to charity as I’d give pennies to a beggar." They settled their bill. On their way out, Robert said: "Now tell me how you caught that blackguard Burley smuggling diamonds for the Fontaines." "Who told you I caught them? In the strict etiquette of the Secret Service, the names of the agents in specific cases are never made public." "Oh, the information just drifted my way," said Robert, bantering him. "Even without it, though, I should have put two and two together. Nobody admires the richness and variety of your knowledge more than I do, Pryor. Yet I’m bound to say that your disguises seem puerile to me. Among the Outlaws, although we didn’t guess the Secret Service, we spotted you as a Pinkerton, or something of that sort, almost from the first." "Precisely what I wanted you to do, my friend. My game was to spread the truth broadcast. People simply will not believe the truth. Ask any detective worth his salt and he’ll tell you that being himself is the best of all possible disguises, one that saves no end of trouble in ’make-up’ and character acting. It causes every suspect to feel that he and the sleuth are in each other’s confidence, as it were. And this puts people so much at their ease that they positively can’t help giving themselves away." "So that’s how you double crossed Hutchins Burley?" "It’s a long, amusing story, Lloyd. I’ll keep the details for another day. The poor wretch is doing five years in a Federal prison. Mr. Rene Fontaine, for whom he was a mere tool, paid a fine of three million dollars (not your beggarly two million!) without turning a hair, and then decamped to England, where he lives in a regal villa somewhere in Essex.—Lord, it’s nearly three! I must make a move. Where are you bound for?" "Home, now. California, the day after tomorrow." "California!" Robert explained that all his uncle’s realty holdings were on the Pacific Coast. His mother, too, was there. What with one thing and another, his presence out West was imperative. "I shall return in two months for a quest of quite another sort," he added, significantly. "Walk a few blocks towards the Subway with me," said Pryor, "and I’ll show you one of the high lights of our low life." As they drew near the Grand Central Palace, the streets grew thick with people. Traffic along Lexington Avenue was suspended and a cordon of New York’s "finest" was drawn up in front of the Palace, with night sticks polished to a turn.