'Well, he can afford to keep on the move now,' said Raikes. 'I wish
I--'
'Did you ever hear about Jimmy and--' Mifflin was beginning, when
the Odyssey of Jimmy Pitt was interrupted by the opening of the door
and the entrance of Ulysses in person.
Jimmy Pitt was a young man of medium height, whose great breadth and
depth of chest made him look shorter than he really was. His jaw was
square, and protruded slightly; and this, combined with a certain
athletic jauntiness of carriage and a pair of piercing brown eyes
very much like those of a bull-terrier, gave him an air of
aggressiveness, which belied his character. He was not aggressive.
He had the good-nature as well as the eyes of a bull-terrier. Also,
he possessed, when stirred, all the bull-terrier's dogged
determination.
There were shouts of welcome.
'Hullo, Jimmy!'
'When did you get back?'
'Come and sit down. Plenty of room over here.'
'Where is my wandering boy tonight?'
'Waiter! What's yours, Jimmy?'
Jimmy dropped into a seat, and yawned.
'Well,' he said, 'how goes it? Hullo, Raikes! Weren't you at 'Love,
the Cracksman'? I thought I saw you. Hullo, Arthur! Congratulate
you. You spoke your piece nicely.'
'Thanks,' said Mifflin. 'We were just talking about you, Jimmy. You
came on the Lusitania, I suppose?'
'She didn't break the record this time,' said Sutton.
A somewhat pensive look came into Jimmy's eyes.
'She came much too quick for me,' he said. 'I don't see why they
want to rip along at that pace,' he went on, hurriedly. 'I like to
have a chance of enjoying the sea-air.'
'I know that sea-air,' murmured Mifflin.
Jimmy looked up quickly.
'What are you babbling about, Arthur?'
'I said nothing,' replied Mifflin, suavely.
'What did you think of the show tonight, Jimmy?' asked Raikes.
'I liked it. Arthur was fine. I can't make out, though, why all this
incense is being burned at the feet of the cracksman. To judge by
some of the plays they produce now, you'd think that a man had only
to be a successful burglar to become a national hero. One of these
days, we shall have Arthur playing Charles Peace to a cheering
house.'
'It is the tribute,' said Mifflin, 'that bone-headedness pays to
brains. It takes brains to be a successful cracksman. Unless the
gray matter is surging about in your cerebrum, as in mine, you can't
hope--'
Jimmy leaned back in his chair, and spoke calmly but with decision.
'Any man of ordinary intelligence,' he said, 'could break into a
house.'
Mifflin jumped up and began to gesticulate. This was heresy.
