“Wealth? How can I divide sufficient among us three to make you wealthy?”

“Master Gray,” continued Britton, “has a ready wit and the news he brings shall enrich us.”

“If I absolutely refuse?“

“Then we bargain for impunity for the past, while we—”

“Denounce me?”

“Exactly.”

“And to what extent, most considerate gentlemen, do you contemplate making me your banker?”

“More or less as the case may be,” said Gray; “but we will be moderate in a gentlemanly way. Eh, Britton?”

“Certainly,” growled Britton, with the laugh of a hyena.

“The sum! The sum!” said, Learmont, impatiently.