"If the junk is that important," exploded Keg, "I'll promise to replace them all with interest as soon as we get running."
"Promise?" whined Linna.
"Yes," said Keg wearily. "It's a promise. I've got to make an option-payment immediately. From then on in, the place will be mine."
"But if you gamble and lose?" asked Linna worriedly. "I'll lose my jewelry."
"I can't lose."
"But if the economic structure falls?"
"I can't miss. All I want to do is to get what I need before the bottom falls out. Inflation of the worst kind will set in, and the wheels will stop dead—except at Fabriville. That's where I enter the picture."
"Good," said Linna in a bored voice. "As long as I am assured of my jewelry, I don't care how you play the market. Run along, Keg. I've got a dinner engagement. May I have just a few, though? I'll feel naked without at least a ring."
"Take what you need," said Keg and was immediately appalled at the necessities of life.