"We ought to, after all the practice we've had. If you keep your heart up, old girl—"
She raised her head.
"I still don't know," she said, "why you should be in this with me."
"Child," said the Saint, "is that still biting?"
"The others were in it for money."
"I took a hundred thousand francs off Essenden in Paris. It would have been two hundred thousand if we hadn't gone into partnership. Yes, I know — you're a dead loss to me. But there was that little joke I've mentioned more than once, if you remember."
"Is that your secret?"
"One of them. Didn't I tell you I always have been crazy? That's very important. If I hadn't been crazy, there'd have been no joke, and the Lord alone knows what would have happened to the Angels of Doom; but certainly there'd have been a lot less mirth and horseplay in history than there is now… One day, when this story's over, I'll tell you all about it. All I can say now is that there was one thing I vowed to do before I went respectable; and I can tell you it was well worth doing. Will that do for today, Jill?"
He saw the smiling perplexity in her face and the whimsical shake of her head, and laughed. And then he looked at his watch and stood up.
"Do you mind if I go?" he asked. "It's my bedtime."