Loring drew out a handful of bills. "Here you are. Any one else want any of this?" he inquired captiously.
Archibald shook his head and laughed. Wyatt screwed his monocle into his eye, regarded both sides of the coin attentively, and laid it down.
"Quite bad, I assuah you," he said. "I should pwonounce it about the wohst specimen extahnt."
"Maybe you'd like to bet on it?" said Loring, flaunting the big bills.
Wyatt was evidently nettled. "Weally, you aw wong—I assuah you," he said stiffly.
"If you aw—pawdon me—quite able to lose that money without—ah—inconvenience I am weady to covah it, at least, as fah as what I have with me goes."
"Done!" said Loring. This was not so bad, after all.
"How much?… Aw! Seventeen thousand. Exactly. The bet is made, gentlemen. I—ah—propose that we wing the bell foh the pwopwietah and, shahl we say, the clahk, to act as judge and stakeholdeh."
"That will be satisfactory," said Loring. "Allow me, in turn, to make a suggestion, Mr. Wyatt. Put the money in your billbook, hand it to the stakeholder, and let him give it, unopened, to the winner. Of course, you will first take out your other money. There is no need for them to know that more than a trivial sum is at stake. We do not want to court unpleasant notoriety."
"Quite twue! An excellent suggestion," said Wyatt gravely. He proceeded to put it in effect.