"'Ow would you care for another bit o' fun like it, Mr. Raffles?"
"Don't say 'another,' please."
"Well, would you like to try your 'and at the game again?"
"Not 'again,' Mr. Levy; and my 'prentice' hand, if you don't mind."
"I beg pardon; my mistake," said Levy, with becoming gravity.
"How would I like to try my prentice hand on picking and stealing for the pure fun of the thing? Is that it, Mr. Levy?"
Raffles was magnificent now; but so was the other in his own way. And once more I could but admire the tact with which Levy had discarded his favourite cudgels, and the surprising play that he was making with the buttoned foil.
"It'd be more picking than stealing," said he. "Tricky picking too, Raffles, but innocent enough even for an amatoor."
"I thank you, Mr. Levy. So you have a definite case in mind?"
"I have—a case of recovering a man's own property."