Page:Christopher Morley--Tales from a rolltop desk.djvu/158

"I don't hear the minstrel to-day," Dove observed as we drew near the alley.

"Oh, well," I said, "that was just to draw business for the opening."

We turned down the passage at No. 59. Quite a crowd of patrons were waiting their turn, I saw. They were standing in the courtyard by the chophouse door, talking busily.

"You see," I said, "it's still crowded."

We reached the entrance. The door was closed. The sign over the doorway now had additional lettering painted on it, and read:

"Come on, Ben," said Dulcet. "No use trying to break through a window. There's no one there. I wonder what the fare is to Augusta?"

"You rascal!" I cried. "If you suspected this, why the devil did you encourage me to squander my $10?"

"I simply said it would probably be well spent," he said, with a clear blue humorous gaze. "If it helps to cauterize your magnificent credulity, it will be."

We sat down on a bench in St. Paul's church-