“You mean you won’t?”

“Put it that way if you like.”

“Well, then, I do like, an’ I don’t like it! I’ll say that much. I don’t like it. You’re throwin’ me down, an’ you’re throwin’ the rest of us down. I don’t like it for a cent!”

“I can’t help that,” replied Dutton, doggedly.

“Well, maybe we can help it, then. You’re leaving us in the lurch just when we need you most. Come on, now, be a sport, Pop!”

“No, I’ve been too much of a sport in the past—that’s the trouble.”

“So you won’t join us?”

“No.”

“Will you come out and tell the boys so? They maybe won’t believe me.”

“Oh, well, I can’t see any harm in that.”