"Well, here we are!" chuckled Garry. "I, poor but honest, already in the toils of matrimony; and you, a plutocrat in sudden danger of a government investigation, I'm told, and hovering on the brink!"
"Here we are!" echoed Steve.
And that was as close as either of them came to outspoken emotion. With a lightness somewhat self-conscious, Garry had alluded to the property which Caleb Hunter had turned over to Steve. There was a trace of like humor in the latter's reply.
"I certainly am oppressed with the cares of sudden wealth," said he.
They were silent again, and then they heard lifted at a distance a thin and reedy tenor. Joe was still humming his inevitable ballad, when he entered and closed the door behind him, with an alarming flourish.
"Evenin', folks," he saluted, but he did not seek a chair.
Before then they had seen him primed for a sensation; never until that moment had he failed to aggravate their curiosity. He circled the room but once, before he confronted them in a fashion that would have been challenging, had it not been for his fiery face.
"Well, you may as well congratulate me," he invited, "and have done with it. Because the suspense is over for me!"
Both men straightened in their chairs; both understood instantly. But Garry was the quicker in speech.
"Not Cecile?" he inquired, in feigned consternation.