"How often did you take him?" he asked.
"Not once! I didn't dare!"
Mannering, who had been in the act of helping himself to a whiskey and soda, looked around with the decanter in his hand.
"I don't understand you," he said, bewildered. "You know very well that the chances, so far as they can be reckoned up, are slightly in my favour."
"They were!" Fardell answered. "Heaven knows what they are now."
Mannering was a little annoyed. It seemed to him that Fardell must have been drinking.
"Do you mind explaining yourself?" he asked.
"I can do so," Fardell answered. "I must do so. But while I am about it I want you to put on your hat and come with me."
Mannering laughed shortly.
"What, to-night?" he exclaimed. "No, thank you. Be reasonable, Fardell. I've had my day's work, and I think I've earned a little rest. To be frank with you, I don't like mysteries. If you've anything to say, out with it."