“Fixed a big contract with Mary Pickford?” he asked.
“N-no,” said Timothy, “but I struck a roulette game—and took a chance.”
“Took a chance again, eh?” said Ellsberger. “One of these days you’ll take a chance and never get better of it.”
“Pooh!” said the other in derision. “Do you think that’s any new experience for me? Not on your life. I went into this game with just twelve pounds and my hotel bill three weeks in arrears. I was down to my last half-crown, but I played it and came out with three hundred pounds.”
“Whose game was it?” asked Mr. Ellsberger curiously.
“Tony Smail,” and Mr. Ellsberger whistled.
“Why, that’s one of the toughest places in town,” he said. “It is a wonder you came away with the money—and your life.”
“I took a chance,” said the other carelessly, and swung his legs once more over the edge of the desk. “There was some slight trouble when I came out of Smail’s,” he shrugged his shoulders, “just a little horseplay.”
The girl had followed the conversation keenly. Any talk which circled about finance had the effect of concentrating her attention.
“Do you always take a chance?” she asked.