"Viscount, observe bottle, please. Listen. Last bottle Scotch in Larchmont."
He lifted the bottle and stroked it gently.
"Last bottle anything in Larchmont," he added.
Pete viewed the bottle with a new and reverent light in his eyes.
"Sir," he said, "knowledge of that fact overwhelms me with the true measure of your hospitality."
"'Sall right, prince, old man. 'Sall yours. Take bottle."
But there were some things that even Pete Stearns could not bring himself to do. He sighed and shook his head. To what unknown heights of generosity might this genial gentleman arise—this gentleman who would even renounce the last bottle in Larchmont?
"Have li'l drink, anyhow."
And it was a very small drink that Pete poured for himself, for he had discovered that within him lay a conscience.