"Well, well, well!" "Jimmie Powers." "You old son of a gun." "I'm afraid there must be some mistake." "You trying to kid me,Jimmie?" "What do you know?" "He's trying to kid me." "L-Let me get this straight." "You mean to tell me you're notJimmie Powers?" "I'm afraid that's exactly what I mean to tell you." "Well, I've heard everything." "Say, if you aren'tJimmie Powers, I'll" " I'll eat your hat." "Well, in that event, I suppose I really owe it to you to make assurance doubly sure." "Hmm." "Hmm." "Oh, as I thought." "I am not Mr.Jimmie, uh, uh-- what was it, uh" " Powers at all." "Well, I'll be whatever it is." "Of course, now, I might be mistaken." "Perhaps I should take up the habit of carrying my birth certificate around with me." "Come on,Joe." "I told you not to take that last double Bronx." "If you gentlemen will excuse me." "Please convey my compliments, to Mr., uh, uh, uh, what's-his-name, and tell him that I don't really resemble him on purpose." "Good day, gentlemen." "Oh, come on,Joe." "I never heard of anything like it before." "Jimmie Powers." "And he says he ain't." "You could be mistaken, couldn't ya?" "No, I couldn't." "Why, he was the managing editor of that newspaper back in Springfield." "I used to-- Six years ago." "I used to run into him every day." "And then he got into some kind of a jam and-- just disappeared." "What kind of a jam?" "Well, the way I got it was that he-- he was playing nature's nobleman to somebody or other... that fell down on him, and so he took the rap and said nothing." "Maybe he was trying to high-hat you just now." "Not theJimmie Powers I used to know." "Why, he was the most promising newspaperman in the country." "Oh, what of it?" "It's no skin off your back, is it? Uh, Mr. Taylor, please." "Michael Trevor calling." "Mr. Taylor said you were to come right up." "Room 309, sir." "Thank you." "How are you, Mr. Trevor?" "Glad to see you." "How are you, Mr. Taylor?" "Come on in." "Sit down." "Thank you." "Well, it's nice to see you again." "I tried to call you up myself, but I didn't know where to get hold of you." "I guess I was a little tight that day I met you at the Ritz." "Oh." "I kind of forgot to get your phone number." "Well, I got yours." "So, here we are." "Yep." "Here we are." "Have a drink?" "Oh, thank you, no." "I, uh" " I had a purpose in phoning you this morning, Mr. Taylor." "Aside from my desire to see you again, of course." "Glad you did." "I'll try to be as brief as possible." "I don't know if you know very much about me." "Oh, sure, I do." "You're just being modest." "Oh, thank you." "I've heard a lot about you, Mr. Trevor." "Yeah?" "They tell me you're over here writing a great novel." "Ah." "I wish I could be as sure of that as they are." "Well, all I know is that some four years ago I quit being a newspaperman in America." "Now I'm over here to see if I can really write." "You've been in Paris four years?" "Mmm." "I wish I could stay over here four years." "Hmm." "I've only been here a week." "For the most part, we have a very nice crowd of Americans living here in Paris permanently." "Paris is certainly a liberal education." "Isn't it?" "I thought I'd seen a lot, but let me tell you." "These Frenchmen" "Uh, French." "And how!" "Unfortunately, there are a few Americans living in this town who are not exactly all they might be." "Frankly, there's only a handful, but they're what I've come to see you about." "There was a little redhead at the Folies-Bergere the other night." "And let me tell you" "Ah, yes." "I know." "I know." "Now, uh, these fellows I'm talking about, Mr. Taylor, live by their wits-- and by other people's lack of them." "I ran into one of them last night." "He helps get out a weekly paper here, printed in English." "No good here." "Me, I didn't come to Paris to read." "Uh, this paper isn't circulated much in Paris." "It's meant chiefly for American consumption." "This fellow was drunk, and he talked too much." "Much too much." "Among other things, he showed me a copy of an item they're going to run in their next week's issue." "I... put it in my pocket when he wasn't looking." "Well, fine." "Just leave it here, and I'll read it." "Well, I think you had better read it right away." "It's, uh" " It's about you." "About me?" "Mmm." "Well, what's it say?" "Well" "Shall I read it to you?" "Sure." "It says," "'"Tis a pity that some of our compatriots are so naive and lacking in worldly knowledge." ""Surely Mr. Harold Taylor, the soft coal baron of Stratford, Pennsylvania," ""could not have been aware of the identity of the very blonde and very beautiful young woman... with whom he seemed to be on such intimate terms at Zelli's the other morning at 4:00."" "Uh" ""With whom he seemed to be on such intimate terms at Zelli's the other morning at 4:00." ""Those in the know were forced to smile broadly..." ""as this strangely assorted couple left the restaurant..." ""arm in arm." "Watch your step, Harry boy."" "We, uh, got so well acquainted that day at the Ritz, Mr. Taylor, that I thought I'd take the liberty of bringing this item to you." "You could do those of us living here a great service." "We know who gets out this sheet." "And what we would like you to do... is to take this item to the police and get the whole gang arrested." "Arrested?" "Exactly." "You're a man of the world, and you know that the kind of fellow back of a thing like that... can't last 1 0 minutes if the police are put on his trail." "Police?" "You could put him where he belongs:" "behind the bars." "Say.Just a minute." "If I" " If I go to the police, it'll get in the papers, won't it?" "Probably." "Well, that's something I don't want any part of." "Ah, but, Mr. Taylor-- I can't afford to have this item get back to America." "And I" " I can't afford to let it be known that I had it stopped." "Well, I'm sorry." "It's always the same old thing." "Every time we get something on this fellow that could send him to jail, the victim is unwilling to prosecute." "I'd like to help you out, but-- but I can't." "I suppose not." "Well, I'm sorry I wasted your time, Mr. Taylor." "I'll say good day." "Good-bye." "Oh." "Oh,just a minute." "Uh, wait a minute." "How would I go about getting this fella not to print this little item?" "Well, I don't know." "I don't suppose it would be very difficult." "You think not?" "It would be worth something to me not to have it appear." "Say, I wonder if you'd do me a favor?" "Most certainly." "If I can." "How about, uh, you seeing this fellow for me?" "My seeing him?" "Yes." "He'd probably listen to you, where he wouldn't to me." "Chances are he'd try to hold me up for more." "Of course, uh, I'd be prepared to pay something for it." "Pay him, of course." "Oh." "Oh." "I didn't mean, uh" "Say, you'd be doing me an awful service if you'd help me out on this." "Well, I'll certainly be glad to do anything I can." "Ah." "Suppose a couple of thousand?" "Uh" "Wait a minute." "Comment?" "Don't pull up your flag." "Comment?" "Why do I always have to get chauffeurs who don't speak English?" "There." "Now maybe he'll get the idea I want him to wait." "Don't you want to come in a minute, Frank?" "Not a chance." "If I'm going to get back here and take you to dinner by 7:00 and then catch that train for London," "I've got to get home and pack and send a couple of wires." "There it goes again." "There what goes again?" "Business." "Oh, Mary." "I know you have to go, Frank, but it's that kind of thing that keeps me from making up my mind." "I don't want to-- to get engaged to a man who thinks of nothing but business all the time." "Oh, Mary, if you'd only say you'll marry me, I'd cut out business-- if you wanted me to." "That's just it." "I don't want you to stop doing the things you want to do, just on account of me." "What do you want me to do?" "I wish I knew." "I was only fooling, Frank." "I'm not really mad." "I wish you'd blow a whistle from now on when you're fooling." "I never can tell." "I never want you to be able to tell." "We seem to be causing a traffic jam." "They can work up a tra-- traffic jam in this town with just one car." "7:00." "Don't forget." "I won't." "The Hotel Henri Quatre." "And whatever the French is for "Try and get me there alive." I can't tell you how much obliged I am to you, Mr. Trevor." "I'll see that he gets this." "I think I can guarantee you this is the last you'll hear of the matter." "From what they say of this fellow, he seems to be living from hand to mouth, so I'm sure your donation will be more than enough to shut him up." "That's great." "Of course, I would have rather had you bring charges against him." "Oh, no, no." "No, no." "That's out of the question." "Well, I suppose so." "I wish you'd have dinner with me some night before I go." "Oh, thank you." "I don't get out very much, but if I do get the chance" "Uh-- Oh." "Excuse me." "That's all right, Mary." "Come right in." "This is a friend of mine." "A real good friend of mind." "Mr. Trevor." "Mr. Trevor, this is my niece Mary." "Mary Kendall." "How do you do, Mr. Trevor?" "How do you do?" "Been shopping?" "A little." "Uh, where's Frank?" "Mean to tell me he's left you alone for five minutes?" "Received a wire to come to London tonight." "He's going to meet that Dutch inventor tomorrow." "I wish you could meet Frank." "He's a fine boy." "He and Mary are going" "Uncle Harry has the soul of a matchmaker, Mr. Trevor." "Just because Frank and I grew up together and are fond of each other" "Well, in my time, you didn't need much more than to grow up together and be fond of each other." "Wait till you meet him, Mr. Trevor." "He's got the stuff, that kid." "He's going to be one of the richest men in the state before he's through." "I'm sure Mr. Trevor isn't interested" "You're right." "I" " I guess I do talk a little too much." "I'm afraid I'll have to be running along now." "I wish you'd wait and have a drink." "Oh, thank you." "Some other time perhaps." "Say, wait." "Uh" "I'll bet you know all the places in Paris." "Where's a good place to have dinner?" "Oh, Uncle Harry." "Oh, it's a pleasure, Miss Kendall." "Well, let's see." "There's Ciro's of course, but all Americans go there." "Yes." "We did." "Uh, have you tried, uh, the Paradis d'Azur?" "Paradis d'Azur?" ""Blue Heaven"?" "Yes." "Oh." "Good orchestra?" "Excellent." "We'll try it tonight." "Thank you." "Good-bye, Miss Kendall." "Good-bye, Mr. Trevor." "Good-bye, Mr. Taylor." "Good-bye." "And thanks a thousand." "Uh, two thousand." "That's one swell guy, that fellow." "Is he?" "I'll say so." "He did me a big favor." "I'd certainly like to do something for him sometime." "Some business deal?" "Well, yes and no." "He's a writer living in Paris." "I'd like to live in Paris." "Me too." "Of course, a fellow would have to watch his step, but..." "I'll bet it'd be a lot of fun once you got to know the place." "How do you like my new hat?" "Oh, it's a humdinger." "Why don't you come along to dinner with me and Frank tonight?" "No, no." "I have a business meeting." "I hope this business meeting breaks up before daylight." "Do you know what time the elevator man told me you got in last night?" "There's a fortune waiting for any elevator man who can't tell time." "Bonsoir, Marie." "Bonsoir, Monsieur Trevor." "How is every little thing, big boy?" "Hotsy-totsy?" "Hmm." "You're getting on, Marie." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Good evening, Louis." "Good evening, Monsieur Trevor." "Well?" "Only table four and 1 7, Monsieur Trevor." "The lady at table four is a Mrs.Jowitt, from St. Louis." "Do you think I'd better?" "Well, here's to you." "Why, that's the Mrs.Jowitt who got here last month, isn't it?" "She's just a babe in the woods-- especially for Spade Henderson." "The waiter reports that Mrs.Jowitt... picked up Spade at Henry's Bar an hour ago." "Well, I may make this Mrs.Jowitt the object of my good deed today." "I am at peace with the world, Louis." "Fortune has been kind to me." "Besides, it might be just as well for my friend Henderson... to learn to follow my rule of keeping women off his list of customers." "Excellent rule, Mr. Trevor." "And, uh, number 1 7?" "A very, very wealthy Mr. Bradkins from Chicago." "The prettiest hand I ever saw." "The lady with him is not his wife." "Not his wife?" "Louis, I'm afraid you're losing your illusions." "The pleasantest of occupations, Monsieur Trevor." "Mmm." "I wonder." "This note may be of interest to Spade." "He needn't know who sent it." "Yes, Mr. Trevor." "Thank you, Louis." "How do you do?" "Good evening." "No supper, Louis." "Just a small bottle of Perrier." "Yes, Monsieur Trevor." "Who was that?" "A friend of Uncle Harry's." "I met him this afternoon." "Another old friend whom your uncle never saw before today." "Oh, you never can tell." "Uncle says he's a very clever novelist." "What's his name?" "Trevor." "Pardon me." "Certainly." "Who gave you this note?" "It was left at the door, monsieur, a moment ago." "I see." "Bad news?" "I" " Say, Mrs.Jowitt, I wonder if you'd excuse me?" "Why?" "What's the matter?" "Uh, an important call." "I've gotta see a fella right away." "Oh, here." "Wait a minute." "I thought we were going to go places and do things." "Sorry." "Some other time maybe." "I've gotta run." "So long." "Well, if this is Paris, something tells me I'm not going to like it." "Oh, Frank, I wish you weren't going." "I'll only be gone 1 0 days-- or less." "Ten days is pretty long." "I wouldn't be going if I didn't have to see this fellow." "I wish I could have gotten a stateroom." "I get seasick so easy, and the thought of having to sit up for three hours... while I'm being tossed around on that channel doesn't make me any too happy." "Sometimes I think I'd have been better off if I'd spent my summer in Pittsburgh." "There must be some way of getting a stateroom." "The porter at the hotel did everything he could." "He said there wasn't a chance." "Phone the company." "Maybe somebody turned back a reservation." "That's a great idea." "No." "I've changed my mind." "It's a terrible idea." "I'd rather swim the Channel than tackle one of these French phones." "But you've got to get a stateroom." "Not if I have to phone, I don't." "Oh, you big baby." "If you won't do something, I will." "I know who can do it." "You've got a lot of crust, if you ask me, Mary." "Mr. Trevor, may I present Mr. Reynolds?" "How do you do, Mr. Reynolds?" "Won't you sit down, Mr. Trevor?" "Oh, thank you." "I wonder if you'd do us a favor?" "Of course." "Gladly." "Frank has to go to London tonight." "He was going to fly this afternoon, but they called off the service on account of fog." "Now he has a ticket on the boat, but no stateroom." "They were all sold out." "You would like me to help you to get a stateroom." "Is that it?" "You get the general idea." "Ah, yes." "Max." "Oui, monsieur." "Uh, what time does your train leave, Mr. Reynolds?" "2:00." "Merci." "Is that all?" "Uh, that's all." "I asked him to wire the purser." "He's a friend of mine." "There'll be a stateroom waiting for you in my name." "Thank you." "How about a little wine, Mr. Trevor?" "Oh." "I think not." "Thank you." "We're awfully obliged to you." "Oh, not at all." "How is Paris treating you?" "Pretty well." "I'm afraid we don't know the places to go to." "I think this place is lovely, but I would like to see some French people." "This has been a favorite hangout of Americans for years." "The prices are higher here than anywhere else." "Uncle Harry says you know Paris so well, Mr. Trevor." "Where should we go from here?" "Well, if you've time, uh, there's a little place I make a habit of dropping into at night... just before going to bed when I'm really hungry." "If you like, uh, why not come there with me?" "It's very French." "Say, that's an idea." "But surely we've taken all the advantage of you-- Oh, not at all." "If you're sure we wouldn't be intruding." "I'd like to get away from this tourist stuff for awhile." "Well, uh, will you be my guests?" "Not to give you a short answer, Mr. Trevor, yes." "Good." "May I?" "Ready, Frank?" "I suppose so." "I never know whether I'm getting change or owe the place money." "Merci, monsieur." "If you say this is the real stuff, I suppose it is." "But I had Paris figured out all different." "Well, I suppose Paris means something different for everyone." "For you, I imagine it means clothes." "To Mr. Reynolds, uh, an interlude." "Pause between business deals." "To your uncle, I daresay it means, uh, change." "And to you?" "I don't know." "There was a time when it meant everything:" "gaiety, glamour, adventure." "Now-- And now?" "Now it's just a place to live... and eat onion soup at 1 :00 in the morning." "In America at this hour I suppose it would mean chop suey." "Give me chop suey every time." "I don't know but what I agree with you." "You know, years ago I used to be a-- a reporter." "After we put the paper to bed at night, we used to stop in at a little place on the corner for chop suey and, uh" "Foo yong." "Foo yong." "I hadn't thought of that for years." "I suppose living in Paris makes up for not having a bowl of chop suey." "I suppose so." "It's not the chop suey you miss." "It's what it stands for." "Home." "America." "Friends." "Fellows I used to know." "Plain things without sauces." "Hello, Mr. Trevor." "Oh, hello, Fred." "Off your beaten path a bit tonight, aren't you?" "Yes." "I guess I am." "You know, these folks want to see all the sights marked on the picture postcards." "I'm beginning to think they've been getting the wrong kind of postcards." "The best American guide in Paris, that fellow." "He doesn't seem to be any better than you are." "That man back there was Michael Trevor." "Very prominent American writer." "Very prominent." "What's he written?" "Books." "Novels I guess you'd call 'em." "But I don't know." "When you get right down to it, what are they?" "Nothing but books." "It's five past 1 :00." "I've got to be going." "It's been very nice of you to show us around like this, Mr. Trevor." "Ah." "My pleasure." "I'll only be gone 1 0 days." "I'd be tickled to death if you'd be my guest some night when I get back." "Thank you." "You'd better hurry back." "Uncle Harry will go out of his mind if has to spend all his time with me." "Pretty tough." "His first week in Paris, and having to take you around wherever he goes." "I can't imagine his ever regarding you as a burden." "Only in Paris, I hope." "Oh." "If I can, uh, relieve him of any part of it" "If you could take Mary around a bit, that would be great." "Oh." "That's fine." "Now all we need is Mar-- uh, Miss Kendall's consent." "Mary consents with very unmaidenly rapidity." "Come on." "Let's go now." "It's late." "Thank you." "Bonsoir, Monsieur Trevor." "Pierre." "I'd like to call you tomorrow, if I may." "There's a special cup race at Longchamps." "Oh, I'd love to go!" "Good." "Suppose I call for you tomorrow at, uh, 1 :00?" "Oh, that'll be fine." "Well, I think I'll walk home." "I wouldn't dare walk five steps from this door." "I'd get lost." "There'll be a taxi along, uh, almost any minute, I'm sure." "Thanks a lot for showing us around." "Not at all." "Until tomorrow then?" "Good night." "Good night." "Good night." "I like that guy." "He's very nice." "He's--Well, I mean, he's, uh" "He's very charming and sophisticated." "It's a great break for you to get a man like that, that knows all about Paris to ask you to go out with him." "To ask me to go out with him?" "Don't be silly." "We did everything but lasso him." "Taxi!" "Come on, Mary." "If I'd say "Hotel de Régent," where do you think we'd wind up?" "Let's find out." "Hotel de Régent. 2:00." "And he said he'd be here by 1 2:00." "Think of the places I could have gone, the things I could have done." "He'll probably be along any day now." "No need getting up on your ear about it." "Nothing's happened to him." "I told you." "I saw him myself at Papa Jules's less than an hour ago." "Well, I'm not gonna wait around half the night for him." "You've had a lot of practice doing it." "Maybe." "But I quit worrying about him personally six months ago." "Kind of mutual, wasn't it?" "Mutual or not, strictly business." "That's little Irenie from now on." "You know, I don't mind your kidding me, but I kind of hate to see you kid somebody else." "Somebody else?" "Yourself." "Now, wouldn't you know it?" "It's all your life is worth to even turn around in this room." "Say, that guy's got books where I wouldn't put... hairpins." "What does he do with them all?" "Read them?" "Well, what do you suppose he does?" "Practice juggling?" "Say, that cuckoo would rather read than eat." "The Money Systems of the Middle Ages." "There's a hot subject for you." "As far as I'm concerned, there's just one little book we need." "That's all." "Just one." "Good old Dun  Bradstreet:" "who's who, and how much has he got?" "When you're through with a guy, it's how much did he have, isn't it?" "I manage to get along pretty well." "If you only weren't so shy and uncommunicative, Irene." "Fancy seeing you here!" "You must have forgotten." "You were supposed to meet us here two hours ago." "Oh, so that was it." "Somehow I, uh, couldn't recall what it was I had forgotten." "I hope your fit of aphasia didn't include Harry Taylor." "My dear Irene, armed with nothing but my trusty fountain pen and galley proofs," "I stalked Mr. Taylor to his lair and bagged this." "Too bad you can't have checks stuffed and hung above the fireplace." "Did he make any fuss?" "Fuss?" "He almost kissed me." "As a matter of fact, I'm a friend of the family now." "Guess where I've been." "At the Ritz bar." "No." "Well, then I can't guess." "Dining with Taylor's niece and her young man." "Oh, that's the people you were with at Papa Jules's." "You mean you met the girl?" "His niece?" "Exactly." "Well, we are lucky." "Say, that couple of pennies that Taylor gave you is nothing at all compared to what we can get." "Say, if he came across that easy to keep his own name out of the papers, what do you suppose he'd be willing to part with for his dear little niece?" "You know, when I was getting the dope on them, I had a feeling we were blowing into the wrong end of the horn." "Now I know it." "Here's a chance to make a real killing." "You just give that dame the works and see how quick her uncle will come across." "I tell you." "It's money from home." "That's what it is." "Taking money from women isn't in my line." "It never has been, and you know it." "Oh, it's not as if you'd really hurt anybody." "Gee." "The girl doesn't have to know anything about it." "You just put her in a spot where it'll look bad for her if she gets found out, and... her uncle will take care of the rest." "Yes." "I know the mechanics of the business." "Well, maybe you don't know this:" "I've got to have some money, and I've got to have it quick." "You're a fine, great big protector of womanhood." "Only little Irenie doesn't matter." "That isn't true." "I'm not the type to put on a sob act, Michael." "But if I tell you I've got to have it, that there's no other chance of keeping them from sending my brother to the jug back home, you'll believe me." "I've never lied to you yet, Michael." "This is the first time I've ever asked you to break that funny little rule of yours." "Oh, it's been all over between us for a long time, I know, but what do you say?" "For me?" "For old time's sake." "I need the dough like I never needed it before." "Irene, you know I'd do anything I could for you" "We could all use the dough." "That's the one argument I can never get around." ""We could all use the dough."" "Okay." "But first, last and only." "Great!" "Anything you want me to do?" "No." "I can handle this alone." "Say, what's been getting into you lately?" "I don't know." "I wish I did." "Well, I'll tell you, if you want to know." "You've been getting ideas." "You've been doing everything but wearing a plume in your hat." "The first thing I know, you'll be helping old ladies across the street." "I used to help a Mrs. Allison across the street on account of her age." "She was old, you see." "You'd better snap out of it." "You've been playing Robin Hood so long, you're beginning to believe in it yourself." "Well, if that's all that's on your mind-- Yes." "That's all." "If I think of anything else, I'll send word by special messenger." "Come on, Fred." "Maybe we can find someplace where there aren't so many books." "Maybe there'll be a few glasses in sight." "I'm going home." "You're going to buy Irenie a little nightcap before you do." "I know better than to argue with you." "I wish I could say as much for everybody in this room." "So long, Mr. Trevor." "See you later." "French or not French, they look just like any other horses to me." "Oh." "You mean to say that you, uh, don't find even a trace of that je ne sais quoi for which France is so famous?" "Not a jenny." "Anyway, I didn't come to Paris to look at horses." "There's plenty of horses back home if I want to look at 'em." "But these are champions, Uncle Harry." "Well, I've seen champions before." "They're no treat to me." "Say, how about going back to the bar and having another one of those funny little green drinks?" "Ah, yes." "If you wish." "If I had my wish about this party, we'd never have left the bar in the first place." "The idea of spending a lovely afternoon like this looking at horses." "But it keeps you out in the open air, Uncle Harry." "Well, I had all the open air I wanted back home." "Hello, Mr. Trevor." "Hello." "How are you?" "Fine." "And you?" "Fred, you don't mean to tell me you're showing Miss Harper the town?" "Well, not exactly." "There was a trainer down here in the paddock she didn't know." "So I said I'd introduce her to him." "Ah." "I see." "Oh, allow me." "Uh, Miss Kendall, uh, Miss Harper." "How do you do?" "Uh, Mr. Taylor, Miss Harper." "Miss Harper has been one of the shining ornaments of our little colony here in Paris for several years." "Oh, excuse me, Fred." "Fred is the best American guide in Paris." "You're just the fellow I want to see." "Let me tell you something, mister." "There's a fortune waiting for any guide who don't know anything about monuments, painting, historical edifices or" "A pen picture of Fred if ever I heard one." "You've been doing pretty well dodging monuments and paintings, Uncle Harry, without a guide." "Well, as I remember the old U.S.A., there's plenty of monuments right there." "You're terrible, Uncle Harry." "Not terrible.Just honest." "Most of the time it's the same thing." "Well, to be perfectly honest, would you think it terrible if I were to suggest a little drink?" "My error." "I'll join you folks later." "Uh, don't send out an alarm for me until I've been lost for at least 1 0 days." "Well, uh-- Ah." "Well, so long, Mr. Trevor." "I got some customers I gotta take to the Louvre." "I should think you would know those pictures pretty well by now." "Oh, I don't look at 'em, Mr. Trevor." "I just explain 'em." "Uh" "I didn't dare suggest it while your uncle was here, but, uh, what about seeing something of the race?" "What an old-fashioned idea." "Let's try it." "Let's." "I think you can catch it better through here." "Thank you." "See if they're set right." "Yes." "Oh, yes." "Watch that number 1 1." "Beautiful thing, isn't it?" "Oh, I hope he wins." "He won!" "He won!" "Who won what?" "The man with the black and gold cap." "Did you bet anything on him?" "No." "Then what are you getting so excited about?" "There's thousands of races won every day someplace." "I don't figure it's sensible to get excited about horses unless you win something." "Why don't you give me something so I can win?" "Well, what did you do with that money I gave you yesterday?" "I spent it." "Putting your heart in your work, aren't you?" "Now I guess we can go back to the bar and get one of those funny-colored drinks." "Oh, Mary can stay here with Mr. Trevor for the next race if she wants to." "The sun hurts my eyes." "I'm sure Mr. Trevor would rather remain here, wouldn't he?" "If I must answer yes or no, yes." "We'll be back in a couple of minutes." "Oh, Mr. Trevor, I'm afraid I'll have to renege on that opera tonight." "But that Russian's going to conduct." "Oh, I didn't mean I didn't want you to go." "No, I really think you ought to go." "It's just that Miss Harper here was telling me... about a new place in Montmartre that's opening up and I thought" "If Miss Harper knows of a new place in Montmartre that's opening up," "I'm sure it's the kind of place that you would like." "If Miss Kendall wouldn't mind going to the opera with me alone," "I should be delighted to-- What do you say, Mary?" "I don't want to go to the opera if you don't want to." "Well, I wouldn't like to have it generally known, but the opera I want to go to doesn't exist." "Then it's settled." "Come on, Miss Harper." "I have a feeling we can get that fella to make some of that orange stuff... with some of that iced green stuff, and turn out something really beautiful." "Good-bye, Mr. Trevor." "Good-bye." "Good-bye, Miss Kendall." "Good-bye." "I suppose I ought to feel angry with Uncle Harry, but somehow I don't." "Angry?" "Why?" "For forcing us to go to the opera alone?" "That isn't what I meant." "I mean angry for seeing so little of what Paris really can be." "I adore it so, don't you?" "I'm not so sure but what he's seeing more of Paris than people who've lived here all their lives." "Besides, I'm rather indebted to him for" "For what?" "For the opera." "I should think you'd never want to finish writing your novel if it meant you had to leave Paris." "I've had a guilty feeling these last few days that I've made you neglect your work." "Ah, on the contrary." "As a matter of fact, I've been thinking of changing my story entirely, throwing away everything I've written so far." "Why?" "Well, I was writing the life of a man whom I thought I knew pretty well." "It was all very definite in my mind." "I didn't know exactly what the end was to be, but... it wasn't very hard to guess." "But now it's all different." "I may keep the same man for my hero, but..." "I think I'll change the entire course of his life." "It all depends." "You see, it's not entirely up to me." "But if you're writing it" "In everything we do, whether we know it or not, there's always a collaborator." "In this case, my hero has... fallen in love with a girl he's just met." "Funny, I'd have bet a million dollars... that he wasn't the type to fall in love at first sight." "But he has." "I see." "It's quite a problem." "Why?" "Don't you see?" "He doesn't know whether she cares anything for him." "I'm" " I'm not a novelist, but I know how to solve that." "He ought to ask her." "Perhaps." "But suppose-- Suppose what?" "Suppose he's not the man she thinks he is, that he seems to be in the opening chapters." "I may have to end it as I first planned it." "If she's the girl you think you've written about, you won't." "It's getting late." "Don't you want to go back to your hotel?" "Do you?" "No." "Neither do I." "But I suppose we'd better." "I suppose we'd better." "Well, at last." "Say, where have you been all this time?" "I've been taking a walk." "Alone?" "Not exactly." "Seems to me you've been doing a lot of walking these last four or five nights." "It, uh, might be a good idea if you were to take these walks on some other nights... than when we have to get out this beautiful little weekly of yours." "There may not be many more nights when we have to get out this beautiful little weekly of mine." "I want to talk to you." "That's never very difficult." "Here, Fred." "Now, be sure you get these corrections right." "Let's print the corrections first next time." "What are you driving at?" "Meaning?" "I wasn't born yesterday." "You have a gift for unnecessary remarks." "Never mind my gift." "All right." "We'll never mind all your gifts." "To spare you the trouble of asking a lot of questions," "I'll try to tell it to you as compactly as I can." "I'm through." "Through with what?" "Through with all this." "With that printing press, with everything that's ever been printed on it, with-- with the whole works." "You've fallen for that kid." "I thought you had that afternoon at the races... when I saw you looking at her in that funny way." "But I wasn't sure." "Now I know." "I suppose you think that you're in love." "I believe I am in love." "And I suppose she's in love with you?" "I think she is." "Well, then think again." "There's a fair chance that she's fallen for you, but she's not in love with you." "You're different from anything she's ever met before." "But she's not in love with you." "There's not a chance in the world for a girl like that to be in love with you." "I suppose you neglected to tell her who you really are and what you really do." "That's over." "Is it?" "Suppose I were to tell her a few things." "You won't have to." "I decided to let her know exactly what I am." "For a few minutes you had me worried." "When I think of you telling that girl the story of your life, the things you've done, the way you earn your living," "I'll believe anything." "Well, if it's all the same to you, I've got work to do." "Somebody's gotta get those papers out." "And if you're not gonna do your share, I guess I'll have to." "Giving me the silence cure, huh?" "See if I care." "Aw, you'll get this silly kid out of your system." "Everything will be all right." "Uh, Miss Mary Kendall, please." "No, Mary Kendall." "Right." "Hello?" "Hello." "Oh, hello." "This is Michael." "I'm so glad you told me." "I might never have known." "Mary, I'd like to see you." "That makes it easier." "I would like to see you." "Right away." "Right away." "I'll come to the hotel and pick you up if you want, but..." "I'd prefer to meet you somewhere else." "Somewhere else it is, milord." "Well, can you be at that statue in the Bois in an hour?" "Uh, the statue of Cupid?" "Cupid." "In an hour?" "You sound like a railroad schedule, but I'll be there." "Good." "Bye." "Bye-bye." "Before I ask you to listen to me, I must warn you... that I'm going to do a lot of talking about myself." "I could think of nothing I could like better." "No, you're wrong." "Am I?" "You don't know anything about me" "I know everything about you." "I knew everything about you the moment I saw you." "Do you know what I do for a living?" "Of course." "You used to be a newspaperman, and now you're over here writing for yourself." "I used to be a newspaperman." "Until I made a fool of myself." "And then I came over here because... there was nothing further open to me among decent people, among my own people." "Did your uncle say anything about how we met?" "Well, it doesn't matter." "I've met a lot of people that way." "I live by my wits." "By finding out things that people don't want to have known about themselves... and by getting paid to keep quiet." "I don't believe it." "There was a time when I wouldn't have believed it myself." "But that was back home, before" "Well, the details don't matter." "I was a sap." "And they made me pay for it." "So I made up my mind to make other people pay my way from then on." "That's all." "Why have you told me this?" "Because I felt you ought to know." "Why did you feel I ought to know?" "Because" "My telling you has served its purpose." "You know now what kind of man I am." "I know now what kind of man you were." "What you're talking about used to be, didn't it?" "It's part of a past... to which I'll never return." "Then what difference does it make?" "You know so much more than I do." "You've seen so much more of the world than I have." "And you make such a bad job of trying to fool me, Michael." "I wasn't trying to fool you, Mary." "I wish I were." "That isn't what I mean, you silly Michael." "You thought by telling me what you used to be... you could cure me of my love for you." "Mary-- What you're saying isn't important now." "It was true." "It isn't true anymore." "I'm even almost glad it's happened." "Glad?" "I don't think I could've stood it if you hadn't had some kind of flaw, Michael." "It's funny, you're trying to tell me you're not worthy of me, when all the time-- Oh, Mary." "Before you called this morning, I tried to write a letter to Frank." "He's fine, good, everything a man should be." "And I don't love him." "Mary, do you mean that in spite of every" "I do mean." "The past is what it was for both of us." "We love each other." "Don't you see that's all that matters? Perhaps we can find a bench where-- Where we can talk?" "Where we can talk." "Say, I can remember once I had a good-time Charlie." "And it was all fixed up for Michael to walk in and ask this guy... what he thought he was doing with his wife." "Good for 5,000 bucks this guy was too." "All right." "Mike is supposed to walk in at 4:00." "And sharp 7:00, he shows up." "You can't imagine what I went through those three hours." "Yes, I can." "Well, you're wrong." "Hurrah, a caller." "Hello." "Hello." "Hmm, it talks." "Say, not wanting to change the subject, but you were supposed to be here at 4:00." "I have something to say to you, Irene." "Well, what am I supposed to do, handsprings?" "I think I'll blow along." "Don't bother, Fred." "Anything the district attorney has got to say to me, he can say in front of you." "Oh, uh, excuse me for using the word "district attorney."" "I forgot you're very sensitive." "I gotta go." "You don't seem to hold your audiences somehow, Michael." "Go ahead and get all that stuff out of your system, Irene." "And when you've finished," "I want to talk to you seriously." "Shoot." "You know what I told you last night?" "You say so many things I can't remember them all." "Try to think." "You put a sort of riddle to me... and answered it yourself." "You were a bit wrong in your answer." "Miss Kendall and I are going to be married." "On the level?" "On the level." "And that goes in every way." "And that's what I came to tell you." "Thanks." "Now I'll tell you something." "You're not going to marry that girl, now or ever." "Interesting, but untrue." "I've told her all about myself." "You see, interesting and true." "Yes, I see." "Don't bother inviting me to the wedding, Michael, because I'll be there anyway." "I'll bring a couple of cops along for protection... and to pull you in as soon as the ceremony is performed." "There are a lot of things the cops in this town would like to know, and I'm just the little lady that can tell them." "I don't suppose you stopped to think of that." "I have a notion you won't do that." "You've been getting a lot of funny notions lately." "And they're not healthy for you." "You are what you are and you're never going to be able to change, because there are a lot of people you've done things to who won't let you." "No matter if you stayed honest from now on until you died." "I'm just like you are, only I ain't kidding myself." "I don't intend to go on as I have." "But you've got to, whether you want to or not." "Let's say you're really in love with this girl." "What kind of love do you think it is?" "Because you love her, are you gonna take her no matter what happens to her?" "I know, you love each other." "That's all that matters, isn't it?" "She can spend five years, 1 0 years of her life as Mrs. Convict Trevor, or whatever one of your aliases they get you under." "If I don't squeal, it doesn't have to be me, something will pop up one of these days and get you... and you know it." "I don't know it." "Oh, yes, you do." "You're too smart not to have figured it all out for yourself." "Why don't you take a little trip?" "She'll forget all about you in a month." "Not that girl." "You are what you are." "Then what difference does it make?" "And you're never going to be able to change." "Don't you see that's all that matters?" "Ten years ofher life as Mrs. Convict Trevor, and you know it." "Never been in love in my life until then." "You're too smart not to have figured it all out for yourself." "What kind oflove do you think it is?" "Because you love her, are you gonna take her no matter what happens to her? I don't believe it." "Frankly, I don't care whether you believe it or not." "My only interest is in the amount of the check you're going to give me." "It's preposterous." "That's the fourth time you've said that." "Say it again, and I walk out." "You can't be serious about this." "That first gag about holding me up on that item about me and that blonde." "All right, I'll believe that." "But you and Mary" "It's down there in black and white just like that other item." "You can suit yourself about believing it, but that's the way it gets printed unless" "I ought to break every bone in your body." "Well, in the first place, I don't think you can." "And in the second place, the item gets printed whether you do or not." "I've heard about your kind of scoundrel, but I really didn't believe he existed." "Now you know." "Hello." "Michael." "Just a minute." "Why?" "What's the matter?" "Plenty." "Read this." "I don't understand." "This rat is trying to" "That kind of talk will do you no good, except to raise the price." "Price?" "He wants $1 0,000 to keep that out of a dirty scandal sheet he runs." "It's some kind of joke." "That's what I thought." "You'll find out how much of a joke it is." "Just a moment." "According to this piece, yesterday you and I visited a cheap and notorious inn near Versailles." "That's right." "You know that this whole thing is a lie." "Do I?" "You know that yesterday, we spent the morning... and most of the afternoon in the Bois." "You remember that, don't you?" "The item speaks for itself." "If the paper is wrong, I'm sure it will publish a retraction." "Unfortunately, however, a retraction is seldom read... by all the people who read the original statement." "This whole thing is a lie, and you propose to publish it, is that right?" "There's one way of stopping publication." "May I speak to-- to Mr. Trevor alone?" "I prefer Mr. Taylor to remain in the room." "I see." "You are serious about this?" "Decidedly." "If Mr. Taylor doesn't listen to reason, that item will be printed in the paper next week." "I, uh, imagine Frank will be interested in reading it." "I think that Frank's interests need concern you no longer." "I don't see what we can do, Mary, except pay him." "And the sooner you take care of it, the sooner I can be on my way." "The sooner you get out ofhere, the better it suits me." "Why did you tell me about yourself if you didn't mean what you said?" "If you weren't really" "You are a silly little girl, aren't you?" "Suppose someone had seen you with me before I had everything ready." "They might have found out who I was and have told you." "So I told you myself." "I congratulate you." "Here it is." "Allow me." "After all, he has me to thank for it." "It'll be all right, Mary." "It'll be all right." "You'll forget all about it as soon as Frank gets back." "Monsieur Trevor." "Monsieur Trevor." "Inspector Lyons from the prefecture of police." "I will be brief." "As a result of information supplied by a friend, we have today established the identity of the editor of the American Scandal Sheet, which has annoyed so many of your compatriots." "However, the French government has no desire... to fill its jails with such undesirable foreigners." "You would be conferring a favor upon this man... by letting him know that the police will call upon him tomorrow at this time." "They would be pleased if they were unable to arrest him... because by that hour, he had left the frontiers of France behind him for all time." "If they do arrest him, it will go very hard with him." "Do you understand, Mr. Trevor?" "Yes, thoroughly." "That will be all then until 4:00 tomorrow." "Going away?" "Long trip?" "Yes." "Any place in particular?" "I was thinking of Cape Town." "Africa, hmm?" "They say it's very nice there." "I suppose you know that I tipped off the little lads of the law." "So I guessed." "I've been keeping tabs on you." "You went to see her and her uncle at their hotel today." "I did." "I couldn't stand it any longer." "Thinking of you and her." "You were right about her." "I, uh" " I convinced her you were right." "Hmm?" "It wasn't very difficult." "I just made a couple of things clear to her." "You're a great guy, Michael Trevor." "I suppose I'm the only one in the whole world who thinks so." "But the world's been wrong before." "So it seems." "I wasn't going to let you go through with holding them up, after I found out how much you cared for her." "I sold those platinum bracelets of mine yesterday and wired the money to my brother." "You're something of a swell guy yourself, Irene." "Michael." "I've never been to South Africa." "Take me with you." "Well, I'm taking so much excess baggage, I... suppose I might as well take you too." "What are you thinking about, honey?" "It's a funny thing." "All my life, I've dreamed of Paris." "And now all I can think of is that it's four days before we get back to Pittsburgh." "The head man on the ship says we reach Cape Town in about 10 days." "You know, it's a funny thing." "I thought I could never get along without Paris." "Now I'm happier with every mile we get farther away from it."