Comrades in Crime 



pea-leaves steeped in dew or beans just free of 

 their petals. And for salad, something far better 

 than hearts of lettuce, the tiny twin leaves. By 

 this time they had to take a stroll and straighten 

 their waistcoats before arriving at a wide choice 

 in sweets. My banquet, in short, was progressive, 

 of the sort once in fashion, its object being, how- 

 ever, not the acquaintance with more guests but 

 more food. I am not sure that in my sleep I did 

 not long to be with Shellover and Creep, an 

 unprincipled epicure, too, and with a capacity 

 equal to theirs. In the approved modern fashion 

 I did understand the psychology of my criminals. 

 But that was before I had caught them. Once 

 they were mine, I felt that the obligation should 

 have been mutual and that it was not too much 

 to ask of my criminals to have entered into the 

 psychology of their judge. 



[257] 



