"
Mr. Montgomery laughed heartily.
"You wouldn't know me, then?" he said.
"You're got up excellent," said Mrs. Flagg, with a slight disregard for
grammar. "Is it a joke?"
"Yes, a little practical joke. We're going to call on some friends and
see if they know us."
"You'd do for the theatre," said the landlady, admiringly.
"I flatter myself I might have done something on the stage, if my
attention had been turned that way. But, my dear, we must be moving, or
we shan't get through our calls."
"I wonder what mischief they are up to now," thought Mrs. Flagg, as she
followed them to the door. "I know better than to think they'd take the
trouble to dress up that way just to take in their friends. No, they're
up to some game. Not that I care, as long as they get money enough to
pay my bill."
So the worldly-wise landlady dismissed them from her thoughts, and went
about her work.
Mr. Barnes and his wife walked up toward Broadway at a slow, decorous
pace, suited to the character they had assumed. More than one who met
them turned back to look at what they considered a perfect type of
the country minister and his wife. They would have been not a little
surprised to learn that under this quiet garb walked two of the most
accomplished swindlers in a city abounding in adventurers of all kinds.
Mr. Barnes paused a moment to reprove a couple of urchins who were
pitching pennies on the sidewalk.
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