he animal crossed the thick rug with a bound, pounced to the bed with a stealthy spring and curled into a little ball of fur. Its eyes closed and it was motionless.
"I'll be damned." Drake slouched down in the leather chair beside the cocktail table and dragged out a much smoked pipe. "That's gratitude for you."
Puffy gazed with growing respect and admiration for the faults of the insane.
"I suppose," he suggested, "that you expected that pint-sized bundle of fur to kick one foot, toss off her coat and do a snake dance right here in the bedroom?"
Drake sat motionless. Smoke drifted in lazy circles around his head.
"What about the diamonds?" he asked. "Get any dope?"
Adams edged carefully away from the bed and glided safely away from the sleeping fox. He dipped a slip of paper from his wrinkled pocket and started to read mechanically.
"Largest diamond came from Africa—weight one pound and a quarter—didn't get the name of it, because I couldn't pronounce it anyhow." He looked up anxiously. "Is that enough?"