The man was cool and calm.
"Call the appraiser, he said at last, with the air of a man standing
on his rights. "I object to this frisking of passengers. Uncle Sam
is little better than a pickpocket. Besides, I cans I wait here all
day. My partner is waiting for me uptown."
Herndon immediately took notice. But it was quite evidently, after
all, only an altercation for the benefit of those who were watching.
I am sure he knew he was being watched, but as the dispute proceeded
he assumed the look of a man keenly amused. The matter, involving
only a few dollars, was finally adjusted by his yielding gracefully
and with an air of resignation. Still Herndon did not go and I am
sure it annoyed him.
Suddenly he turned and faced Herndon. I could not help thinking,
in spite of all that he must be so expert, that, if he really were
a smuggler, he had all the poise and skill at evasion that would
entitle him to be called a past master of the art.
"You see that woman over there? "he whispered. "She says she is
just coming home after studying music in Paris."
We looked. It was the guileless ingenue, Mademoiselle Gabrielle.
"She has dutiable goods, all right. I saw her declaration. She
is trying to bring in as personal effects of a foreign resident
gowns which, I believe, she intends to wear on the stage.
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