to-night, Arthur Mifflin, an exemplary young man off the stage, had
been warmly applauded for a series of actions which, performed
anywhere except in the theater, would certainly have debarred him
from remaining a member of the Strollers' or any other club. In
faultless evening dress, with a debonair smile on his face, he had
broken open a safe, stolen bonds and jewelry to a large amount, and
escaped without a blush of shame via the window. He had foiled a
detective through four acts, and held up a band of pursuers with a
revolver. A large audience had intimated complete approval
throughout.
'It's a hit all right,' said somebody through the smoke.
'These near-'Raffles' plays always are,' grumbled Willett, who
played bluff fathers in musical comedy. 'A few years ago, they would
have been scared to death of putting on a show with a crook as hero.
Now, it seems to me the public doesn't want anything else. Not that
they know what they DO want,' he concluded, mournfully.
'The Belle of Boulogne,' in which Willett sustained the role of
Cyrus K. Higgs, a Chicago millionaire, was slowly fading away on a
diet of paper, and this possibly prejudiced him.
Raikes, the character actor, changed the subject. If Willett once
got started on the wrongs of the ill-fated 'Belle,' general
conversation would become impossible. Willett, denouncing the
stupidity of the public, as purely a monologue artiste.
'I saw Jimmy Pitt at the show,' said Raikes. Everybody displayed
interest.
'Jimmy Pitt? When did he come back? I thought he was in Italy.'
'He came on the Lusitania, I suppose. She docked this morning.'
'Jimmy Pitt?' said Sutton, of the Majestic Theater. 'How long has he
been away? Last I saw of him was at the opening of 'The Outsider' at
the Astor. That's a couple of months ago.'
'He's been traveling in Europe, I believe,' said Raikes. 'Lucky
beggar to be able to. I wish I could.'
Sutton knocked the ash off his cigar.
'I envy Jimmy,' he said. 'I don't know anyone I'd rather be. He's
got much more money than any man except a professional 'plute' has
any right to. He's as strong as an ox. I shouldn't say he'd ever had
anything worse than measles in his life. He's got no relations. And
he isn't married.'
Sutton, who had been married three times, spoke with some feeling.
'He's a good chap, Jimmy,' said Raikes.
'Yes,' said Arthur Mifflin, 'yes, Jimmy is a good chap. I've known
him for years. I was at college with him. He hasn't got my
brilliance of intellect; but he has some wonderfully fine qualities.
For one thing, I should say he had put more deadbeats on their legs
again than half the men in New York put together.'
'Well,' growled Willett, whom the misfortunes of the Belle had
soured, 'what's there in that? It's mighty easy to do the
philanthropist act when you're next door to a millionaire.'
'Yes,' said Mifflin warmly, 'but it's not so easy when you're
getting thirty dollars a week on a newspaper. When Jimmy was a
