"Neergard! Why, he does know."
"You confessed to him?"
"Y-es; I had to. I was obliged to—to ask somebody for an advance—"
"You went to him? Why didn't you go to Captain Selwyn?—or to Mr. Gerard?"
"I did!—not to Captain Selwyn—I was ashamed to. But I went to Austin and he fired up and lit into me—and we had a muss-up—and I've stayed away since."
"Oh, Gerald! And it simply proves me right."
"No, it doesn't; I did go to Neergard and made a clean breast of it. And he let me have what I wanted like a good fellow—"
"And made you promise not to do it again!"
"No, he didn't; he only laughed. Besides, he said that he wished he had been in the game—"
"What!" exclaimed Alixe.