“Buy them?” suggested the Adventurer pleasantly.

“Yes, I'll—I'll buy them. I—I've got a little money, only a little, all I've been able to save in years, a—a hundred dollars.

“How much did you say?” inquired the Adventurer coldly.

“Two hundred.” The voice was a maudlin whine.

The Adventurer took another backward step toward the door.

“Three hundred!”

Another step.

“Five—a thousand!”

The Adventurer laughed suddenly.

“That's better!” he said. “Where you keep a thousand, you keep the rest. Where is the thousand, Mr. Viner?”