"The talk now became very interesting. The Large Man told stories of his early life on a farm and the Bostonian recited verses, and recited them very well, and the Woman laughed in the right place, and when the cigars were brought and the coffee and the cognac, I was sorry it was all over. That, when I look back upon it, is the most extraordinary thing of all. How a man of my experience could have--Well, I won't stop, I'll just keep on. "With the coffee, and before the red-headed Irishman had brought the bill--oh, you should go round to Foscari's and look at that Irishman just to see how coarse and vulgar a man can be who spends his whole life feeding animals who--no I WILL go on, for the most interesting part is to come. When the coffee was served, I say, the Large Man asked the waiter where he could send a telephone message to his hotel--wanted the porter to get his trunks down. The Irishman answered: 'Out in the hall, to the right o' where ye come in.' 'I'll go with you,' said the Woman; so the two got up and I opened the door for her, and we three sat down again--that is, the Small Man, the Bostonian and myself. "We talked on, not noticing the time; then the Small Man looked at his watch, jumped up and called out to the waiter: 'Where did you say that telephone place was?' "'In the hall--on the other side of that dure; ye kin see it from where ye're sittin'.' "'Well, he's taking a devil of a time to do his telephoning' said the Small Man. 'Hold on to my coffee till I go and punch him up.' "The Bostonian and I kept on talking. He was a draughtsman in an architect's office, so he told me, and was promised a place the following week, and I was very much interested in what he told me of his walking the streets looking for work. "Mike, the waiter, now laid the bill on the table. I didn't want to know the amount; my hosts wouldn't want me to see it, of course, and so I didn't look at it. The Bostonian craned his head, but I forestalled his glance and turned a plate over it before he could read the total. "Mike now approached. "'Ye'd better pay now,' he said, 'before any more o' ye skip. It's nine dollars and sixty cints.' "'They'll all be back in a minute,' I said. 'Wait till they come. I'm only an invited guest.' "'I'll wait nothin'. The boss is out and I'm in charge. H'ist out yer money.' "The Bostonian had risen from the table now and was looking at me as if I'd just been detected in picking his pocket. "'But I'm an invited guest,' I protested. "'Invited guest, are ye?' continued the Irishman. 'And ye ordered the grub yersilf! You heard him!' This to the Bostonian. 'Didn't he order the stuff? Let's see yer wad. No more o' ye's goin' to l'ave this room 'till I gits nine dollars and sixty cints. Here, Macaroni'--and he called the Italian--'ring up the station-house and till thim to sind somebody 'round. Ye can't play that game on me!"