XII
GOSSIP
ext morning I routed up Sam Underhill at an early hour. Sam Underhill is my special friend; he is also my nearest neighbour, his apartment being directly under my own.
He is a lazy chap and I found him abed, and none too well pleased at being disturbed.
"What the dickens brings you here at this unearthly hour?" was the amiable greeting I received.
I waited till he had made himself comfortable again; then I boldly stated:
"You are a club-man, Sam, and consequently well up in the so-called gossip of the day. What can you tell me about the Gillespies?—the three young men I mean, sons of Archibald Gillespie."
"George, Alfred, and Leighton? What possible interest can you have in them? Rich fellows, spendthrifts, every one of them. What have they been up to that you should rout me up at this hour——"