He did it just loud enough so the cropper could hear him. It told the cropper that any cheating that happened would not involve short-changing his wif.... The cropper also guessed that Albert would be watching what he did and not so much the ball. The man had obviously played or even cropped before.“Dear Lady, can I assume this is your first play of the wheel?” the cropper asked politely.Carol nodded and blushed prettily. The cropper looked over at someone and then nodded slightly. He focused. "I never heard of him, either," I explained, dunking a cookie in a glass of milk, a nightly ritual for me. "But he wants you to send him 'something to read'. I assume that means music. He wants a fully scored orchestral piece, about a half hour long with room for an eight-minute piano solo. Have you written anything like that?"Mary blinked at me, her eyes semaphoring her confusion, gradually flapping faster and faster."What do you mean you have never heard of Stan Kenton?" She finally stammered. About two feet of slack was given to the chains connecting my wrists and the same slack given to my ankle chains. When I walked the chains and the anklets (which had tiny bells attached to them) jingled loudly. On top of these I was made to wear what was the slave dress. It included a short red top almost like a bikini but with sleeves and it made of silk and beautifully embroidered and along with it went a long flowing red skirt made of some satin like cloth, which was almost transparent. I. ”This is not sensible. “It is right that you do this, I do not understand enough,” I tell her. “When Irving says two hundred dollars in an hour I think is very much.”“Well, it’s not bad. But you’re worth a lot more than that. You’re worth every penny of the five hundred, and all the perks too.”“‘Perks?’” I ask. Then she tells me all else that is agreed. I can only shake my head in wonder that Irving will give so much.“Without you I receive none of this,” I say. “I should know this when Irving.