Indiscretions of Archie

t got going with a rush and a whir. He glared round the room. He had never seen a room so devoid of satisfactory co

edia calls the "distensible gullet" and looked up reproachfully. The next moment he was in his bag

door. A voice spoke sternly.

pen thi

rojecting piece of iron on the sill, lowered Peter and the bag into the depths, and closed the window again. The whole affair

ide her a bullet-headed gentleman with a bowler hat on the ba

rusty but propitiatory smile. He imagined-erroneously-that Archie, being the son-in-law of the owner of

pologetically. "I didn't know

" said Archie, cordially. "W

e queen of tragedy.

detective. The detec

th a dry little cough, "thinks her

na

what the

wska's voice shook with emotion.

shook h

tely not! I remember no

s room. This man had it in a b

etective. "Go easy! This gentl

He has my snake! Here

ldn't go round

e of the Moffams have ever gone about stealing snakes. Regular

is! Here!

detective looked at Archie. "We mu

the room, what? What I mean to say is, this is Li

the room!" said

lanced apologet

for this, Mr. Mo

ly too glad you

drama explore. Presently she desisted, baffled. For an instant she paused, as though ab

d the detective, "Well, g'bye, Mr.

went to the window and hauled in the slack. Present

d!" said

p that fastened the bag was properly closed; for the bag, as it jumped on to the

no excitement. Yet only a few moments before a long green snake with three hundred ribs, a distensible gullet, and gastrocentrous vertebras must have descended on that street like the gentle rain from Heaven upon th

uaintanceship with Peter, but he had seen enough of him to realise his sterling qualities. Somewhere

e hotel. He found his father-in-law prowling restlessly about the lobby. There seemed to be s

demanded, without preamble. "I

hie. "Had a nice little chat togethe

said a word t

bit dumb. He never says much, but it's whispered round the clubs that he thinks a lot. It was rumoured in the sp

struggled wit

You seem t

y Court together. And here's a rummy coincidence. When they examined ME, I had no as

o be in no mood for d

" he said, bitterly. "Well, if you want to se

ght he was s

ow he can look for some

r old Squiffy been b

wster s

l-room at eight o'clock. He must have been completely intoxicated

odded ap

th the naked eye. I've seen the dear old chap many a time whiffled to the eyebrows, and looking as sober as a bisho

ddenly got up from his table and went the round of the room, pulling off all the table-cloths, and breaking everythi

practical chap, Squiffy. But where o

enquiries. He has six l

resource! Well, I'm dashed sorry this

." Mr. Brewster brooded coldly. "I don't know why it is, but e

said Archie, s

said Mr.

her-in-law's attitude pained him. It was absolutely rotten and all tha

assed. The noise of the traffic in the street below faded away. Only the rattle of an occasional belated cab broke the silence. In

a red face and a hot brown eye. He yawned and stretched himself. His head was aching a little. The room seemed to him a trifle close. He got out of bed and threw o

so, dear old Squiffy's choice of literature had been rather injudicious. His book was The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and the particular story, which h

sant thrills, for he had always had a particular horror of snakes. As a child, he had shrunk from visiting the serpent house at the Zoo; and, later, when he had come to man's estate and had put off childish things, and settled down in real earnest to his self-appointed mission of drinking up all the alcoholic fluid in England, the di

fy re

entle, soothing sound, like that of a small jet

. He could have sworn that he had actually heard that identical sound. It had seemed to come fr

g dressing-gown. His chin was cocked upward and his eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the ceilin

n to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat

said

wished now that he had read something else. No fellow could read himself to

gain, that hissing sound. And this tim

crawling. As it crawled, it raised its head and peered from side to side, like a shortsighted man looking for his spectacle

aiting patiently for something of the kind to happen. He was a snake who took things as they came, and was prepared to rough it a bit if necessary; but for the last hour or two he had been hoping that somebody would do something practical in the way of getting him in out of the cold. When at home, he had an eiderdown quilt to sleep on, and the stone of the window-sill was a little trying to a snake of

rt, which had seemed to suspend its operations, began beating again. Reason

s he climbed out of bed. It was the expression of a man who is turning over a new leaf, starting a new life. He looked about the room for some implement which would carry out the deed he had to do, and finally pulled out one of the curtain-rods. Using this as a lever, he broke open the topmost of the six c

Archie's room rang. "I say, Archie,

ld bean! I

down here for a seco

ely! Whi

-fort

ou eftsoons or

s, old

s to be the

r of fact, I thou

sna

ll about it when

n his bed. An arresting aroma of mi

?" said Arch

n pouring my stock away. Ju

t w

I thought I

re

shivered

tfully

ase of his friend, and now that Fate seemed to have provided a solution, it would be rash to interfere merely to ease the old bean's mind.

serious!

" agreed Squiffy. "I'm

t sch

with a touch of hopefulness, "that

the management

it went und

take

y shud

n't sleep in this room now. I was wondering if

. Trot along up. Here's the key. I'll tidy

e head of Peter popped up with its usual expression of amiable enquiry. Archie nodded pleasantly,

itself. He picked Peter up and placed him in the pocket of his dressing-gown. Then, leaving the room, he

cal snoring of a good man taking his rest after the lab

t Archie, philosophically, "if

note. Archie extracted Peter from his pocke