“Four, I make it,” he stated.
Douglas held out his hand with the fingers outspread.
“See it? Quite empty? No trap-doors or magic cabinets concealed anywhere? See the back too? Well, put your pennies into my palm. . . . I now close my hand. I take out my handkerchief. I shake it, showing that no coin is concealed in it. I cover my hand. Now, I say I’ve got five pennies in my hand. You can take off the handkerchief, if you like. Five pennies. Give me a bob if I’m wrong?”
Eric Dangerfield had been watching closely.
“All right,” he agreed.
“Well, then. I am wrong, and you owe me a bob. I didn’t bet I was right. I said, ‘Give me a bob if I’m wrong.’ ”
Eric Dangerfield fished out a shilling but Douglas refused to take it. He was about to continue the prearranged series of tests when, to his surprise, Westenhanger introduced a variation in the programme.
“Before I forget, Douglas, you might give me the name of the place where you got that new racket. I want to make a note of it.”
He felt in his pockets, then applied to Eric.
“Got a fountain pen, by any chance, Dangerfield?”