Yet after a silent thirty seconds opportunity, in her gaudiest and most conspicuous form, had made no visible impression on David Prentiss. His bewildered eyes roved from Anthony to Johnson Boller. Once he seemed about to laugh; again he seemed about to speak; he did neither.
And the clock struck twelve.
And had a bomb exploded between his poorly shod feet, the effect on David Prentiss could hardly have been more striking. He started, and his eyes, dilating, lost their bewilderment and showed plain, overwhelming horror. His mouth opened with a shout of:
"Was that midnight?"
"Very likely," Anthony said impatiently. "But as to——"
"Where's my cap and coat?" David demanded.
"Never mind your cap and coat. I——"
"But I do mind 'em!" David cried. "I've got to have them—quick! Where are they? Where's the man who took them?"
Anthony merely smiled with waxing curiosity.
"So you are really rejecting opportunity at the first knock, eh?" he mused.