"What a bally idiot I am!" he muttered. "Know the Belvedere number as well as my own home. Always called it 'Mount Vernon ten hundred' or 'Mount Vernon one-o-double o.' Dumb jackass! Gee! what a close shave! Wonder Jennie didn't see me when she went in that other booth." Then the funny side of it struck him, and he laid his head on the desk and laughed unrestrainedly. Was ever a contretemps more ridiculous? When he at last emerged from the booth the demure operator looked up at him without the trace of a smile. "Twenty cents, please," she said. "It's worth more than that," remarked Daniel cheerfully. "Gosh, but you're a wonder! I take off my hat to you." He made a low sweeping bow. The girl smiled. "It was funny," she admitted. "How on earth did you manage it?" "You asked for somebody at 'Mount Vernon one-o-double-o', didn't you? You got them, didn't you?" "All the same, you're a wonder!" he rejoined, with undisguised admiration. An incoming call enabled her to turn aside the flush that rose to her cheeks. When she had attended to it she glanced up again at Carey with her prior calmness. "Which do you prefer," he asked, "candy or a pair of those long gloves?" "Candy isn't good for the complexion." Daniel noted her fine color, then promised the gloves. He was about to say more when Tom Oliver bolted into the room. "Say, old man," he cried, "when on earth will you be through here? There's the prettiest girl in the tearoom, and maybe you know her. I've ordered supper over there, so I can look at her." "What is she wearing?" asked Daniel, with a note of alarm. "She's a vision in light blue." The hello girl looked quizzically at Daniel and it was Daniel's turn to flush. "I can't eat supper there, Tom," he said, slowly. "Fact is, I'd rather be anywhere else than in that room." "But why?" persisted Tom. "You tell him," said Daniel to the telephone girl. "He has an engagement at South six-eight-k." The mystified Tom eyed first one, then the other. "What on earth is that?" he asked. "The Baltimore Yacht Club." He was still unenlightened. "But why"--he began. "Come on, old hayseed," said Daniel, taking Tom's arm. "Let's go into the palmroom, and I'll tell you all about it." "I'll call you up tomorrow to get your size for the gloves," he remarked to the telephone genius as he bade her good night. "You know what number to call?" "Am I likely to forget it?" he asked. Transcriber's Note: Spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained as they appear in the original publication.