Janet knew Stillman well, and she shook hands with him. "Mrs. Hazelton!" he said, smiling. "By Jove! I looked round to see who you meant when you said that, Lefty. Somehow I've never yet quite got used to the fact that your honest-and-truly name isn't Locke. I'll gladly join you at dinner, but a cup of coffee is all I care for, as I dined a little while ago. Shan't want anything more before two or three o'clock in the morning, when I'm likely to stray into John's, where the night owls gather." When they had seated themselves at a table in the almost deserted dining room, Lefty warned Janet. "Be careful what you say before him, my dear," he said. "He's looking for copy every minute that he's awake, and nobody knows when he sleeps." Stillman became serious. "Locke," he said, "I've never yet betrayed a confidence. Oh, yes, I'm a reporter! But, all the same, I have a method of getting my copy in a decent fashion. My friends don't have to be afraid of me, and close up like clams; you should know that." "I do," declared the southpaw promptly. "I didn't think you were going to take me quite so seriously. You have been a square friend to me, Jack." "Then don't be afraid to talk. I'll publish only what you're willing I should. You can tell me what that is. And if you've seen the _Blade_ right along you must be aware that it's the one paper that hasn't taken a little poke at you since you were tagged to manage the Blue Stockings. Nevertheless, here to your face I'm going to say that I'm afraid you've bitten off more than you can chew." Lefty shrugged his shoulders. "As to that, time will tell. For once your judgment may be at fault." "I don't mean that you couldn't manage the team successfully if you were given a half-decent show," the reporter hastened to make clear. "I think you could. But I'm afraid you're going to find yourself in a mess that no man living could crawl out of with credit to himself." The southpaw gave the waiter the order. Then he turned to Stillman. "I thought I might hear something new from you, Jack," he said, "but you're singing the same old song. To be frank with you, it's getting a bit tiresome. If I were dull enough not to know I'd been picked for a fall guy, I could have obtained an inkling of it from the newspapers. It's plain every baseball scribe knows the fact that there's a put-up job, although none of them has had the nerve to come out flat and say so." "They've said all they really dared to--without absolute proof of a conspiracy. If you know so much, take my advice, hand me the proof, and give me permission to publish it. But it must be real proof." "I can't do it yet. Perhaps, when the time comes, I'll pass you what you're asking for. Just now, considering your statement that you never double cross a friend, I'm going to talk freely and tell you how much I know."