“Awful rot!” said Jim Lascelles.

“Don’t forget the tall dark fellow,” said Cheriton.

“Yes—no—yes,” said the gypsy; “and the tall dark man, and the tall fair man, and the short stout man—really, I don’t remember reading a hand so complex as this.”

“It was a tall fair man at Widdiford,” said Miss Perry.

The gypsy discarded the hand of Miss Perry with a gesture of petulance.

“That has spoiled everything,” said she.

“We were married at Widdiford,” said Miss Perry, “and we lived happily ever afterwards, and we only paid a shilling.”

“I am afraid shilling fortunes are always untrustworthy,” said Cheriton. “But I should like a little more information about that red-faced, apoplectic fellow.”

“They might very easily marry,” said the gypsy, in a sinister manner.

“Awful rot!” muttered Jim.