Dan did not answer. He was too amazed and upset to talk just then.
"So no one can touch you without your knowing it!" jeered Hickey. "You are an easy mark. I am not in the same class with you. Hold me up while I laugh."
"Don't laugh, Sam; this is serious."
"Of course it is. I wouldn't laugh at it if it weren't. Most of the funny things aren't worth laughing at. The serious things are, most always."
"Very well; laugh if you wish. I shan't. I am wondering what we are going to do. We certainly are in a fix."
"You've got five hundred what-do-you-call-thems, haven't you?"
"Five hundred centimes, yes. They will not go far. A dollar will not purchase much in France."
"But the five hundred sounds big enough to buy a house and lot with. I could put up a pretty good bluff on five hundred of anything."
"We had better go home. The hour is late. We can talk there, though talking will not help us out of this trouble at all."
"Yes; that's a good idea. These Paris folks will have the shirts off our back if we stay out here much longer. What time is it?"