The clothing man looked at the misshapen thing with eyes that bulged.  “Where is it you been with this suit—­in the East River, my friendt?” he wanted to know.

“I took a walk along Riverside Drive.  That’s all.  I got a strong guarantee with this suit when I bought it.  I’m goin’ to give you the same one I got.  It won’t shrink or fade and it will wear to beat a ‘Pache pup.  Oh, you won’t make any mistake buyin’ this suit.”

“You take from me an advice.  Unlock that door and get out.”

“I can give you better advice than that.  Buy this suit right away.  You’ll find it’s a bargain.”

The steady eyes of the Westerner daunted the merchant, but he did not intend to give up fifty-five dollars without a murmur.

“If you don’t right avay soon open that door I call the police.  Then you go to jail, ain’t it?”

“How’s yore heart, Mr. Bernstein?” asked Clay tenderly.

“What?”

“I’m askin’ about yore heart.  I don’t know as you’re hardly strong enough to stand what I’ll do to you if you let a single yelp out of you.  I kinda hate to hurry yore funeral,” he added regretfully, still in his accustomed soft drawl.

The man beside the stool attempted one shout.  Instantly Clay filled his mouth with a bunch of suit samples that had been lying on the desk.  With one arm he held the struggling little man close to his body.  With his foot and the other hand he broke in two a yardstick and fitted the two parts together.

“Here’s the programme,” he said by way of explanation.  “I’m goin’ to put you over my knee and paddle you real thorough.  When you make up yore mind that you want to buy that suit for fifty-five dollars, it will be up to you to let me know.  Take yore own time about it.  Don’t let me hurry you.”

Before the programme had more than well started, the victim of it signified his willingness to treat with the foe.  To part with fifty-five dollars was a painful business, but not to part with it was going to hurt a good deal more.  He chose the lesser of two evils.

While he was counting out the bills Clay bragged up the suit.  He praised its merits fluently and cheerfully.  When he left he locked the door of the office behind him and handed the key to one of the clerks.

“I’ve got a kinda notion Mr. Bernstein wants to get out of his office.  He’s actin’ sort o’ restless, seems like.”

Restless was hardly the word.  He was banging on the door like a wild man.  “Police!  Murder!  Help!” he shouted in a high falsetto.

Clay wasted no time.  He and the fifty-five dollars vanished into the street.  In his haste he bumped into a Salvation Army lassie with a tambourine.

She held it out to him for a donation, and was given the shock of her life.  For into that tambourine the big brown man crammed a fistful of bills.  He waited for no thanks, but cut round the corner toward Broadway in a hurry.