"A hundred and twenty-five thousand."
"Nothing doing," stated Johnny with a smile. "There's no use fussing up our time though. I can tell you, to the cent, how much I must have. At four o'clock to-day I shall be nineteen hours behind my schedule, and I want a day for a fresh start, which makes it twenty-six. At five thousand an hour, that makes a hundred and thirty thousand dollars. I paid Ersten a hundred thousand. Grand total: two hundred and thirty thousand."
"I don't understand your figures," protested Lofty.
"It's a private code," laughed the leaseholder, "but that's the price."
"I won't pay it," threatened the young merchant.
"Build your tunnel then," returned Johnny—but pleasantly, nevertheless. "Don't let's be nervous, Lofty. I might ask you a lot more, but that's the exact amount the system I'm playing calls for. I don't want any more and I won't take any less!"
Lofty studied his face contemplatively for a moment and rang for his treasurer.
"How did you get Ersten?" he was curious to know; and Johnny told him, to their mutual enjoyment.
At the nearest drug store Johnny called up Constance.
"Heinrich Schnitt is fixing your coat!" he announced.