“Well, it’s this way,” he went on. “I was dummyin’ up, see? Imitatin’ a deaf an’ dumb man. D.D. ing, see? You surely know what lavender is⁠—stuff women put on clothes. You put about a spoonful in a small envelope. You’ve got a pocketful of the envelopes ready when you go out to make your plunge. Then you get your ducat, see? That’s the main thing. I got a bartender to write it for me on the back of a lawyer’s card. When the women opens the door you slip her your ducat and she reads:

‘I am deaf and dumb. I got hurt by a streetcar and just came out of the county hospital. I am trying to get seven dollars to pay my fare home to Cheyenne. Please take a parcel of lavender and give what you can.’