Then Mr. James B. Coulson, who was getting tired of his part, suddenly sat up, and a soberer man had never occupied that particular chair in the Bal Tabarin.
“And if I have, my young friend,” he said calmly, “what the devil business is it of yours?”
Mr. Gaynsforth was taken aback and showed it. He recovered himself as quickly as possible, and realized that he had been living in a fool’s paradise so far as the condition of his companion was concerned. He realized, also, that the first move in the game between them had been made and that he had lost.
“You are too good an actor for me, Mr. Coulson,” he said. “Suppose we get to business.”
“That’s all right,” Mr. Coulson answered. “Let’s go somewhere where we can get some supper. We’ll go to the Abbaye Theleme, and you shall have the pleasure of entertaining me.”
Mr. Gaynsforth handed back the pocketbook and led the way out of the place without a word. It was only a few steps up the hill, and they found themselves then in a supper place of a very different class. Here Mr. Coulson, after a brief visit to the lavatory, during which he obliterated all traces of his recent condition, seated himself at one of the small flower-decked tables and offered the menu to his new friend.
“It’s up to you to pay,” he said, “so you shall choose the supper. Personally, I’m for a few oysters, a hot bird, and a cold bottle.”
Mr. Gaynsforth, who was still somewhat subdued, commanded the best supper procurable on these lines. Mr. Coulson, having waved his hand to a few acquaintances and chaffed the Spanish dancing girls in their own language,—not a little to his companion’s astonishment,—at last turned to business.
“Come,” he said, “you and I ought to understand one another. You are over here from London either to pump me or to rob me. You are either a detective or a political spy or a secret service agent of some sort, or you are on a lay of your own. Now, put it in a business form, what can I do for you? Make your offer, and let’s see where we are.”
Mr. Gaynsforth began to recover himself. It did not follow, because he had made one mistake, that he was to lose the game.