"Well, hang you for a jackass, sure enough! I promise; but if you get into any such scrape as this, you needn't send for me. I refuse to help you again."
"I can't exactly see that you did. Let's get out. Got a cigar in your pocket? I am positively dying for a smoke."
Suddenly a brilliant idea came to me.
"Did you know that Miss Annesley, the girl you saw on shipboard, is in
Washington and was at the embassy last night?"
"No! You don't say!" He was too clever for me. "When I get through with this exploit, Nancy'll have to introduce me. Did you see her?"
"Yes, and talked to her. You see what you missed by not going last night."
"Yes, I missed a good night's rest and a cold bath in the morning."
"Where shall I say you were last night?" I asked presently.
Mister James scratched his chin disconcertedly. "I hadn't thought of that. Say that I met some of the boys and got mixed up in a little game of poker."
"You left your hat on the rack and your cane in the stand. You are supposed to have left the house without any hat."