“Then we get neither—though that is a consummation most unlikely.”
“And how are you to determine?”
“By your gracious surrender of it!”
She laughed softly. “But if I am not able to be gracious?”
“I trust that we shall not be obliged to go so far.” And when she would have answered he cut her short, courteously but with finality. “You’ve lost, Madeline; now be a good loser. You’ve won from me, and made me pay stakes and then some—and I’ve paid and smiled.”
“Exactly! You’ve paid; I can’t pay, because one loses before one pays, and I haven’t anything to lose.”
“You will prove it?” he asked.
“Certainly,” said she. “Do you wish me to submit to a search?”
“I don’t wish it, but you have left no alternative.”
“Burr!” went the telephone.