"Good!" stated he. "Vel' fine."
When he had departed and they began to test his statement, Bat spoke carelessly:
"Is it your idea that young Burton didn't have a hand in this thing?"
Big Slim blew at the steam ascending from a dish of rice.
"Sure not," said he. "I seen that guy lots of times; he's as soft as mush. You couldn't get him to bump anybody that way on a bet."
"Funny!" said Bat. "Who could have done it?"
Big Slim shook his head with the air of one who could talk eloquently if he would. For a time they ate their food in silence; then the burglar resumed:
"You know what I told you last night about the phony fighter, Allen? How I expected to turn a trick that'd get me a roll, and be able to put it up for him in that match?"
"Yes," said Bat, interested.
"I've been doing work all over the United States for a good many years," stated the burglar, "and I've run into some funny jobs. But this one had them all faded. You could start a thousand times and never fall like I did that time."