"All right," said the stranger briskly, while Roy and Arthur were struck dumb with amazement. "You are the most sensible man in your party—meaning no offense to your friends, of course."
"Why, Joe," began Roy, as soon as he found his tongue.
But Joe shook his head and waved his open hands up and down in the air, indicating by this pantomime that his mind was made up, and it would be of no use for his friends to argue the matter.
"It's all right," said he, when he had succeeded in silencing them. "If there are a hundred dollars to be made honestly, I don't know why we should turn our backs upon it. We've a long run before us, our expenses will be heavy—"
"That's the idea!" exclaimed the now smiling stranger. "I don't suppose that your fathers are as liberal with you as they might be. I know mine wasn't, and that my supply of pocket-money was mighty slim when I had to depend upon him for it. Where's the cash?"
"Hand over the purse," replied Joe.
"Let me see first that you have twenty-five dollars to give me," was the answer.
"I'm a wheelman," said Joe, severely. "And my machine is a passport to the best society in the land—eh?"
"Of course; of course. But you see—"