cleanest white. Two of the three solemn men were graybeards; one of these two wore silken robes striped like a barber's pole; and the other, whose majestic white beard hung to his waist, was in black and saffron, gloriously embroidered in orange, green, and gold. The third of the jewel merchants was a warped and wrinkled yellow person in an English frock coat, pale lilac trousers, an embroidered velvet waistcoat and a fez. The three paused aloof while Le Seyeux came forward.
Tinker became urgent in his plea to his wife. "Listen! I'll be upstairs in half an hour. I can't go now."
"Why can't you?"
"Well" He glanced toward the three merchants. "I got business with those gentlemen."
"Business!" Mrs. Tinker said angrily. "What's it about? A Fancy Dress Party?"
"Honest, I have, Honey," he insisted; and he was cunning enough to add mysteriously: "You might be sorry some day! I mean you might be sorry if you kept me from a conference with those gentlemen. Mightn't she, John?"
"I think it would be certain," Le Seyeux said, with laughter intentionally sly. "I am sure if you talk
