“Are you interested in gambling?” asked Peterson politely.
“A mild flutter, Mr. Peterson, every now and then,” returned Drummond. “Strictly limited stakes.”
“If you confine yourself to that you will come to no harm,” said Peterson. “It is when the stakes become unlimited that the danger of a crash becomes unlimited too.”
“That is what my mother always told me,” remarked Hugh. “She even went farther, dear good woman that she was. ‘Never bet except on a certainty, my boy,’ was her constant advice, ‘and then put your shirt on!’ I can hear her saying it now, Mr. Peterson, with the golden rays of the setting sun lighting up her sweet face.”
Suddenly Peterson leant forward in his chair. “Young man,” he remarked, “we’ve got to understand one another. Last night you butted in on my plans, and I do not like people who do that. By an act which, I must admit, appealed to me greatly, you removed something I require—something, moreover, which I intend to have. Breaking the electric bulb with a revolver-shot shows resource and initiative. The blow which smashed Henry Lakington’s jaw in two places shows strength. All qualities which I admire, Captain Drummond—admire greatly. I should dislike having to deprive the world of those qualities.”
Drummond gazed at the speaker open-mouthed. “My dear sir,” he protested feebly, “you overwhelm me. Are you really accusing me of being a sort of wild west show?” He waggled a finger at Peterson. “You know you’ve been to the movies too much, like my fellah, James. He’s got revolvers and things on the brain.”
Peterson’s face was absolutely impassive; save for a slightly tired smile it was expressionless. “Finally, Captain Drummond, you tore in half a piece of paper which I require—and removed a very dear old friend of my family, who is now in this house. I want them both back, please, and if you like I’ll take them now.”
Drummond shrugged his shoulders resignedly. “There is something about you, Mr. Peterson,” he murmured, “which I like. You strike me as being the type of man to whom a young girl would turn and pour out her maidenly secrets. So masterful, so compelling, so unruffled. I feel sure—when you have finally disabused your mind of this absurd hallucination—that we shall become real friends.”
Peterson still sat motionless save for a ceaseless tapping with his hand on his knee.
“Tell me,” continued Hugh, “why did you allow this scoundrel to treat you in such an offhand manner? It doesn’t seem to me to be the sort of thing that ought to happen at all, and I suggest your going to the police at once.”