“Want to make a little wager?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I never bet.”
“A poor excuse is better than none. Of course, that means you dare not bet.”
“It means just what I said—I never bet.”
“Oh, well, if any of your bunch feels like sporting a little I’ll be open for business up to the time the umpire calls ‘Play!’ It adds interest to any event to make a little wager on it. I’m not in baseball for my health. We’re going to pay you the biggest part of the gate money, and so I’ll have to catch some money somehow. Considering your record, there ought to be some sports with nerve enough to take a chance on you.”
Cameron’s manner was offensive, although it was not likely he meant it to be.
The accommodations at the Mansion House were none too good, and the place seemed poor enough after the plain comforts of the private house they had just left. Nevertheless, they were inclined to make the best of everything, kicking being in disfavor among them.
At the earliest opportunity Merry took occasion to seek information concerning the mysterious woman who lived on the hill; but he soon discovered that no one in the place knew much about her, save that she had appeared some ten weeks before and leased the house for the summer. The place was furnished, its owner having gone abroad after the death of his wife. When Miss Blake moved in, no one seemed to know. Shortly after taking the house she reappeared in Cartersville, and the people of the town discovered that she as occupying the house, together with a number of servants, both male and female.