There raced into the room first a white bull-terrier, he of the soprano voice, and--a bad second--his fellow artiste, the baritone, a ma.s.sive bull-dog, bearing a striking resemblance to the big man with the big lower jaw whose entrance had started the cyclone.
And, then, in theatrical parlance, the entire company "held the picture." Up-stage, with his hand still on the door, stood the man with the jaw; downstage, Jimmy; center, Spike and the bull-dog, their noses a couple of inches apart, inspected each other with mutual disfavor. On the extreme O. P. side, the bull-terrier, who had fallen foul of a wicker-work table, was crouching with extended tongue and rolling eyes, waiting for the next move.
The householder looked at Jimmy. Jimmy looked at the householder.
Spike and the bull-dog looked at each other. The bull-terrier distributed his gaze impartially around the company.
"A typical scene of quiet American home-life," murmured Jimmy.
The householder glowered.
"Hands up, you devils!" he roared, pointing a mammoth revolver.
The two marauders humored his whim.
"Let me explain," said Jimmy pacifically, shuffling warily around in order to face the bull-terrier, who was now strolling in his direction with an ill-a.s.sumed carelessness.
"Keep still, you blackguard!"
Jimmy kept still. The bull-terrier, with the same abstracted air, was beginning a casual inspection of his right trouser-leg.
Relations between Spike and the bull-dog, meanwhile, had become more strained. The sudden flinging up of the former"s arms had had the worst effects on the animal"s nerves. Spike, the croucher on all-fours, he might have tolerated; but Spike, the semaph.o.r.e, inspired him with thoughts of battle. He was growling in a moody, reflective manner. His eye was full of purpose.
It was probably this that caused Spike to look at the householder.
Till then, he had been too busy to shift his gaze, but now the bull-dog"s eye had become so unpleasing that he cast a pathetic glance up at the man by the door.
"Gee!" he cried. "It"s de boss. Say, boss, call off de dawg. It"s sure goin" to nip de hull head off"n me."
The other lowered the revolver in surprise.
"So, it"s you, you limb of Satan!" he remarked. "I thought I had seen that d.a.m.ned red head of yours before. What are you doing in my house?"
Spike uttered a howl in which indignation and self-pity were nicely blended.
"I"ll lay for that Swede!" he cried. "I"ll soak it to him good!
Boss, I"ve had a raw deal. On de level, I has. Dey"s a feller I know, a fat Swede--Ole La.r.s.en his monaker is--an" dis feller an" me started in sc.r.a.pping last week, an" I puts it all over him, so he had it in for me. But he comes up to me, like as if he"s meanin" to be good, an" he says he"s got a soft proposition fer me if I"ll give him half. So, I says all right, where is it? An" he gives me de number of dis house, an" says dis is where a widder-lady lives all alone, an" has got silver mugs and t"ings to boin, an" dat she"s away down Sout", so dere ain"t n.o.body in de house. Gee! I"ll soak it to dat Swede! It was a raw deal, boss. He was just hopin" to put me in bad wit" you. Dat"s how it was, boss. Honest!"
The big man listened to this sad story of Grecian gifts in silence.
Not so the bull-dog, which growled from start to finish.
Spike eyed it uneasily.
"Won"t you call off de dawg, boss?" he said.
The other stooped, and grasped the animal"s collar, jerking him away.
"The same treatment," suggested Jimmy with approval, "would also do a world of good to this playful and affectionate animal--unless he is a vegetarian. In which case, don"t bother."
The big man glowered at him.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"My name," began Jimmy, "is--"
"Say," said Spike, "he"s a champion burglar, boss--"
The householder shut the door.
"Eh?" he said.
"He"s a champion burglar from de odder side. He sure is. From Lunnon. Gee, he"s de guy! Tell him about de bank you opened, an" de jools you swiped from de d.u.c.h.ess, an" de what-d"ye-call-it blow-pipe."
It seemed to Jimmy that Spike was showing a certain want of tact.
When you are discovered by a householder--with revolver--in his parlor at half-past three in the morning, it is surely an injudicious move to lay stress on your proficiency as a burglar. The householder may be supposed to take that for granted. The side of your character that should be advertised in such a crisis is the non-burglarious. Allusion should be made to the fact that, as a child, you attended Sunday school regularly, and to what the minister said when you took the divinity prize. The idea should be conveyed to the householder"s mind that, if let off with a caution, your innate goodness of heart will lead you to reform and to avoid such scenes in future.
With some astonishment, therefore, Jimmy found that these revelations, so far from prejudicing the man with the revolver against him, had apparently told in his favor. The man behind the gun was regarding him rather with interest than disapproval.
"So, you"re a crook from London, are you?"
Jimmy did not hesitate. If being a crook from London was a pa.s.sport into citizens" parlors in the small hours, and, more particularly, if it carried with it also a safe-conduct out of them, Jimmy was not the man to refuse the role. He bowed.
"Well, you"ll have to come across, now you"re in New York.
Understand that! And come across good."
"Sure, he will," said Spike, charmed that the tension had been relieved, and matters placed upon a pleasant and business-like footing. "He"ll be good. He"s next to de game, sure."
"Sure," echoed Jimmy, courteously. He did not understand; but things seemed to be taking a turn for the better, so why disturb the harmony?
"Dis gent," said Spike respectfully, "is boss of de cops. A police-captain," he corrected himself.
A light broke upon Jimmy"s darkness. He wondered he had not understood before. He had not been a newspaper-man in New York for a year without finding out something of the inner workings of the police force. He saw now why the other"s manner had changed.
"Pleased to meet you," he said. "We must have a talk together one of these days."
"We must," said the police-captain, significantly. He was rich, richer than he had ever hoped to be; but he was still on Tom Tiddler"s ground, and meant to make the most of it.
"Of course, I don"t know your methods on this side, but anything that"s usual--"
"I"ll see you at my office. Spike Mullins will show you where it is."
"Very well. You must forgive this preliminary informal call. We came in more to shelter from the rain than anything."
"You did, did you?"
Jimmy felt that it behooved him to stand on his dignity. The situation demanded it.
"Why," he said with some hauteur, "in the ordinary course of business I should hardly waste time over a small crib like--"
"It"s banks fer his," murmured Spike, rapturously. "He eats dem alive. An" jools from d.u.c.h.esses."