"Who said so?"
"I say so. Put it at the lowest—that you sunk a hundred pound' in the Saltypool—"
"Eh?"
"In the Saltypool—" Cai met his stare and nodded. "And not your own money, neither. Mrs Bosenna—"
'Bias started and laid down his pipe. "Drop that!" he interjected with a growl.
"Nay, you don't frighten me," answered Cai valiantly. "We're goin' to talk a lot of Mrs Bosenna, afore we've done. Present point is, she gave you a hundred pound, to invest for her. She gave me the like."
"What!" 'Bias clutched both arms of his chair in the act of rising.
But Cai held up a hand.
"Steady! She gave me the like. . . . You handed the money over to Rogers, and close on fifteen per cent he was makin' on it—in the Saltypool."
"Who—who told you?"
"Wait! I did the like. . . . Seven pounds eight-and-four was my dividend, whatever yours may have been—eh? You may call it a—a coincidence, 'Bias Hunken: but some would say as our minds worked on the same lines even when—even when—" Cai seemed to swallow something in his throat. "Anyhow, the money's gone, and we'll have to make it good."