"Bah! She's like the rest. If Harbert doesn't get in his nasty work, she'll give in like all the others."
"I thought you said you'd do nothing to mar the happiness of Graydon," sneered Droom.
"I don't intend to, you old fool. This affair is between Mrs. Cable and me. If she wins, I'll give up. But, understand me, I'm perfectly capable of knowing just when I'm beaten."
"I only know your financial valour," said Elias drily.
"That's all you're expected to know, sir."
"Then, we won't quarrel about it," said the other with his sweetest grin.
"Umph! Well, pleasantries aside, we must look ourselves over carefully before we see our New York friend. He must not find us with unclean linen. Elias, I'm worried, I'll confess, but I'm not afraid. Is there anything that we have bungled?"
"I have always been afraid of the chorus-girl business. I don't like chorus girls." Bansemer, at another time, would have smiled.
It was past midnight when the two left the stall and started in separate ways for their North Side homes. The master felt more secure than when he left the home of David Cable earlier in the night. Elias Droom said at parting:
"I don't like your attitude toward Mrs. C. It's not very manly to make war on a woman."