"I suppose I ought to--my mechanic was to wait outside for me--" Cliff Lowell lifted an eyebrow and smiled a little smile.

"You must have a very well-trained mechanic if he really would wait outside at this time in the evening." He bowed and lifted his hat to an impressive old lady in some glittery, lacy kind of gown, and Johnny bowed also and blushed because a girl just beyond the old lady gave him a slant-eyed glance and the shadow of a smile.

Ten steps farther a fierce looking man with a wide, white frontage and a high silk hat slowed his pace and cried, "Why, hello, Cliff!" in a manner not at all fierce.

Between there and the entrance Johnny counted seven important looking persons who recognized his host as an acquaintance.

He began to wonder at his own presumption in receiving one of Los Angeles' leading citizens as he had received Cliff Lowell.