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outside. As a matter of fact the King of the May had on one of the same kind of suits only his had a lot more silver embroidering it and there was a whole chestful of medals dangling on the front. This guy was a little taller than Theo but he had the same pasty face, the same patent leather hair. Johnnie figured it must be Rudolph, the one who had this house in such a tizzy.
    Rudolph was smoking a cigarette in a three-inch long black holder with silver snakes on it. He gave Magda a nod then turned up his nose as if she smelled bad instead of like cape jasmine. Well, maybe he didn’t like the smell of jasmine. Johnnie did. Reminded him of home, down around Corpus Christi way. Every man to his own smells.
    By that time Johnnie had located Dorp. He was bursting the seams out of his white tie and tails. Probably rented it. His shoes still weren’t good, the patent leather was wrinkled across the toes. But Dorp—at least Pudgey was Dorp to Johnnie till he found out different—looked happy. His fat face was bisected by a blissful smile. He was the only one in the room wearing a smile. The chauffeur squadron didn’t even look human. And Dorp’s pal, the glass-eyed, hatchet-faced menace, looked more sour than ever. He was standing beside Rudolph with a big ribbon across his middle, like pictures of the little New Year on magazine covers only the ribbon was red, and instead of a diaper he was wearing full dress like Dorp. His gray head looked as if it needed a shave.
    This room was really something. The windows were covered with red velvet and all the chairs were red velvet. The one on the platform had a canopy of red velvet with a golden crown and scepter embroidered on it. Even the rug was red velvet. If he hadn’t just come down the stairs with Magda, Johnnie wouldn’t have believed he was in the same house he’d entered half an hour ago. This room and Magda’s room certainly didn’t fit with Aunt Clotilda’s parlor downstairs.
    Magda came out of the curtsy just as if she were used to making one every hour on the hour. She pulled out all the stops in her voice. It throbbed. “Rudolph, I cannot believe you are here at last. You must tell me all of your travels, all the excitement. But you are tired, my dear—”
    “I’m not tired,” Rudolph put in. He had an adenoidal tenor. “And there wasn’t any excitement.”
    “Ah, but your escape!”
    “It was dull.” Rudolph’s lip pouted. “I thought it would be exciting.” His beady black eyes glared at the man beside him. “But it wasn’t. Herr Ottomkopf put me on the plane in Mexico City. I flew to El Paso.”
    “You just come from El Paso?” Johnnie burst out happily. He ceased. The way everyone in the room turned on him he might have been announcing that he had a bad case of cholera. “Well,” he began in explanation.
    Magda was ice. “Quiet,” she commanded. “I’m sorry, Rudolph.”
    Dorp’s hands waggled. He spoke English now but so thickly he reminded Johnnie of Captain Katzenjammer. “I regret, Your Highness. I regret much, but the draft it takes so many of our young men and we must train more, sometimes with such little time.” His voice oozed away under Rudolph’s empty stare. The silence was so rugged that Johnnie could feel his ears sizzling.
    Rudolph’s adenoids began again. “From El Paso I had to come by train. Unendurable!” He fanned his face with the cigarette holder. He had a big ruby on his finger, too. Johnnie never had liked guys who wore jewelry. He knew for certain he wasn’t going to like Rudolph. Highness or no highness, let Rudy make one crack about Texas and he’d pop him one. But Rudolph didn’t. He jabbed the cigarette at the glassy-eyed man beside him. “If you could come by plane, Herr Ottomkopf, why must I endure days on the filthy train?”
    Ottomkopf bowed. “For safety, Your Highness.” He had a worse accent than Herr Dorp. “I have explain. The incognito—”
    “I didn’t like it,” Rudolph said, and