The Ne'er-Do-Well

regular line of mountains in the background, and close at hand a town. The ship came to anchor abreast of a point upon which he descried a squat little spider-legged lighthouse and lon

d green. There were no clearings on the slopes, no open spaces dotted with farm-houses or herds,

the deck steward made his rounds requesting the

e Cortlandts

ing off?" h

lained, briefly. "They are v

, you know. When we were here five years ago, we saw car-loads of

Kirk. "Now if I can rent a room over the morgue and bo

ellow fever-no sicknes

ou go over to Panama C

lo

me," Kirk answered. But when, after taking his turn before the d

nge that with the agent. We make a

cable my old m

ead with finality. "Not

tho

'll have to. Look here! Do you want to kno

ings in that direction, but-

k your name is eith

vell

ou have any money co

y inte

you are

But what has all that to do with m

have to pay in advance. You're not

praise," Kirk acknowledged, "

ha

it. I'll bet my ring against your shirts that my name is Anthony, and if I do

ile I don't intend to

a man of admi

yself upon the mercy of strangers

little brown policemen in blue, little brown merchants in white, and huge black Jamaicans in all colors of rags. Here and there move

blazing-hot, glaring white street jammed with all sorts of vehicles, the drivers of which seemed perpetually upon the point of riot. Before him stretched a shadeless brick pavement, with a railroad track on

ng from the way they dominated the place, kicking, biting squealing, ramming one another, locking wheels and blocking traffic, the while their futile owners merely jerked the reins after the fashion of a street-car conductor ringing up fares, or swore softly in Spanish. Silent-footed coolies drifted past, sullen-faced negroes jostled him, stately Martinique women stalked thr

a dozen different dialects; even the negroes used an accent that was difficult to understand. One thing only struck a familiar note, and that wi

take the Twenty-third Street Fer

moil to the cable office, where he wro

. O. D.," the op

coin in a

s,

s beneath his arm. He thought of appealing to the Cortlandts before they left for Panama City, but could not bring himself to ask a favor fro

t upon a palm-guarded road along the breakers, he paused in silent enjoyment. The trade-winds were drawing inward as steadily as if forced by a great electric fan, piling the green waters upon the rocks in a ceaseless, soothing

ul's house and knocked at the door, whereupon a

t, don't stand

musty Morris chair and sipping a highball. The man's face and neck were of a

. Weeks?" K

t's

e is An

palm. "Have a seat." The speaker indicated a broken-backed rocker encumbered with damp clothes, newspapers, and books. "Just dump that ru

r, and all about the floor were scattered documents where the wind had blown them. Shoes and articles of clothing were piled in the corners; there was not a sound piece of furniture in the place, and

ress with dragging skirts and overrun shoes ent

in, Mr.

on the Sa

linen trousers where his dripping knees had pressed. He walked with a peculiar, springy roll, as if pads of fat had grown between his joints, and, once an impulse

hand he presented the glass. His cuffs were limp and tight, his red wrists were ringed like those of a baby. As

nthony announced, "I suppose

panted, while his soft cheeks swelled with e

cable home

the way down, eh?" He be

was coming; some of my friends gave me a knockout and shipped me off on the Santa Cruz. The wi

you wish

at I have a place to sto

rept slowly into the

absolutel

't got a

t take to hear f

s at home, I'll

f he i

have t

u think he'll

You see, I'm something

ound every

'm a poor man and I've been an easy mark for every tropical tramp from Vera Cruz to G

rstand who he is. Did y

f Albany,

, this time to display a far

he's th

r. Weeks had gone too far to check himself, so he lurched resiliently into an upright position, then across the floor, and, r

"I'm here to accommodate folks like y

ously. "If you will fix it so I can cable him and

t lips. "I'll cable him myself and you'll stay right

ed hastily. "Really, I couldn't think of putting yo

No, sir, you'll stay right here where it is cool and comfortable." With a pudgy forefinger he stripped his purple brow of a row of glistening sweat-drops. "I'll have Zeelah fix up a bed where this glor

thank

end a cart for your

h me-six shirt

oward the desk, adjusted a chair behind him, spread his legs apart, and sat down sidewise so that he could reach the inkwell. He overhung his chair so generously that from the front he

nthony picked one

it on it. That's the trouble with this country-there's always a breez

e read what h

THONY, Alban

guest. Asks you cable him money f

ll please him to know I'm

re ver

get in touch with your father. W

Anthony's son. "I believe I enjoy the distinction

aned forward, while his chair creaked dangerously, and said, with impressiveness, "My dear sir, do you realize that a cocoa palm afte

N

is increasing so rapidly that in ten years there will be a famine. Thin

k acknowledged. "Wha

e bought for fifty cents an acre, selected seeds for five cents each, labor is sixty

e b

The coc

in

will raise sugar-cane the size of your-of my-thig

ll news

ane land for a dolla

at figures,

the chance for a man

mean, is

any rubb

in Bro

-you can get it for a song-plant your rubber-seed, and let 'er go, Gallagher! In ten years you go back, cut off

er ve

father's backing-Say! It's a mighty good thing you came to see me. I can do your old man a lot of good. I'm conservative, I am, and what he needs is a good, con

Kirk shook his head

rtner, and we'll get your father to open it up. What do you say? If he doesn't like that, we'll get him a street-railway franch

e w

what we call the Panam

'; unde

a funn

try is full of promoters, cheap skates, and that sort, and they'll try to stampede you into some investment. You trust to me; I'm c

alebone framework, the breath wheezing noisily in and out of his chest, the perspiration streaming from his purple face in rivulets. He put up his gues

uit looks like a dog bed. You don't

ade clothes large enough, and, besides, it's

a Chinese tailor on Bottle Alley who'll have you a suit to measure

cted some linen, whereupon, instead of one suit, the co

ious presence. There was a trader from down the San Blas coast; a benevolent, white-haired judge, with a fund of excellent stories; a lieutenant in the Zone Police who impressed Kirk as a real Remington trooper come to life; and many another. They all welcomed the Yale man with that freedom which one finds only on the frontier,

with flowers, red-shaded candles, white linen, and gleaming silver gave it a metropolitan air. Both the food and the wine were well served, and the co

f draw poker and insisted upon Kirk's joining. He w

Kirk. You're my guest, and your I.O.U. is as good

letter "frat," and he cherished the belief that he had at least learned to distinguish a spade flush from an "Arkansas blaze." But he soon found that these men had f

following cablegram w

sul

Consul,

sent, retu

PL

's secretary," Kirk exp

a Cruz and have to

," the consul

e me to a ticket. I'll

rk

ation. "You see, I'm interested in so many ventures it keeps me-well, broke.

sit the Canal, for on every side he heard nothing but echoes of the great work, and he began to feel that he owed it to himself to view it. But his plans were upset by the weather. On the following day it began to rain, and it continued to rain day and night thereafter until Colon became a sodden, dripping horror. The soil melte

f drying his clothes. His garments, hanging beside his bed at night, were clammy and overlaid with moisture in the morning. Things began to smell musty; leather objects grew long, hoary whiskers of green mould. To his am

farers Club. In his daylight hours he listened to Weeks's unending dissertations upon the riches of the tropics;

end, and Friday morni

he told Weeks at breakfast. "He's regularity itsel

into the cocoanut business," the consul a

I will be. Money doe

ed eyes were very bright and curious. Kirk had seen that look many t

ing of the town. The prospect of squaring his account with this fawning fat man filled him with relief, and once

you get a

excitedly through t

ch did

essage; read

ad as f

Consul,

n impostor.

TH

ned!" he ejaculate

"A joke, hey? I suppose it

elieve I'm K

discovered to-day that

Stein t

laughed

d automobiles and millionaire fathers, but you happened to select the wrong milliona

t me. You offere

oint of exploding; his whole body shook and quivered as

his little voice. "I've fed you for a week. I put you up

tter. My Governor doesn't know the fa

I suppose? Not if I know it! He say

n't unde

"You thought you'd fool me for a week, while you won enough money fro

Kirk said, darkly, "or I'll make you

me of yours. Well, you stuck me all right, because you knew I couldn't have you arrested-I'd be a laughing-stock forever

oney to cable again?" aske

of my house, Mr. 'Kirk Anthony,' and don't you show yourse

al of emotion. To the indignant amazement of M

gee! This IS funny." He was still laughing when he reached the public squa