"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.
"Don't you know that it's wrong to pitch pennies?" he said
gravely.
"None of your chaff, mister," retorted one of the street boys,
irreverently.
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