"I never expected it would be," replied Pullwool, so tickled by the Devil that was in him that he could not help laughing. "I never wanted it to be. Why, it would spoil the little game. This is a trick that can be played every year."
"Oh!" exclaimed Mr. Dicker, and was dumb with astonishment for a minute.
"Didn't you see through it before?" grinned the grand master of all guile and subtlety.
"I did not," confessed Mr. Dicker, with a mixture of shame and abhorrence. "Well," he presently added, recovering himself, "shall we settle?"
"Oh, certainly, if you are ready," smiled Pullwool, with the air of a man who has something coming to him.
"And what, exactly, will be my share?" asked Dicker, humbly.
"What do you mean?" stared Pullwool, apparently in the extremity of amazement.
"You said snacks, didn't you?" urged Dicker, trembling violently.
"Well, snacks it is," replied Pullwool. "Haven't you had a thousand?"
"Yes," admitted Dicker.