"Steward," Leon Sammet cried, "never mind that steak. I would take the bloater anyhow."
Abe and Moe breakfasted lightly on egg and toast, and returned to their stateroom as they passed the Battery.
"Say, lookyhere, Moe," Abe said; "I want to show you something which I bought for you as a surprise the night before we left Paris. I got it right in the top of my suitcase here, and it wouldn't take a minute to show it to you."
Abe was unstrapping his suitcase as he spoke, and the next minute he shook out the gown he had purchased from the young lady of the Cafe de la Paix, and exposed it to Moe's admiring gaze.
"How did you get hold of that, Abe?" Moe asked.
Abe narrated his adventure at the Grand Hotel, while Moe gaped his astonishment.
"I always thought you got a pretty good nerve, Abe," he declared, "but this sure is the limit. How much did you pay for it?"
"Three hundred of them—now—francs," Abe replied; "but I've been figuring out the cost of manufacturing and material, and I could duplicate it in New York for forty dollars a garment."
"You mean thirty-five dollars a garment, don't you?" Moe said.
"No, I don't," Abe replied. "I mean forty dollars a garment. Why do you say thirty-five dollars?"