from his face that he was making an insulting reply.
Corcoran flushed and swore at him. Barney grinned. In the elevator cage, he spelled out: “I ’ve got your goat.”
And he had. By the time they arrived at the Hotel Haarlem—with an auto full of purchases for Barney’s new rôle—Corcoran was in a speechless rage, and Barney, still consistently deaf and dumb, was enjoying himself like a young imp.
“G Corcoran said, through his teeth, ”I hope this Dart gang cuts your throat. They ’ll do it, too, if they get half a chance.”
II.
It was late in the afternoon when Adam Cook, accompanied by his afflicted son, descended from a taxi-cab in front of number 126, rang the bell, and asked to see the mistress of the house. A discouraged-looking maid ushered them grudgingly into the parlor and left them there—in a room that appar-
