“Do you mean our host?”
“The deuce, no! It’s John.”
“He makes a fine looking gentleman.”
“Correct, Mr. Craig! Now I’ve had a long experience, and you can bet I’ve seen some strange ones in my day, but I give you my word for it I’ve never set eyes on so smooth a customer. Why, he’d fool the keenest of ’em. His face bears the stamp of honesty. Reckon that’s how he came to have such a good chance to rake in so big a pile.”
“Colonel, have you ever known mistakes to occur in such things?”
Bob Rocket turns his eagle eye upon the other.
“Certainly I have—why?”
“Might it not be possible under these circumstances?”
“Hardly! You saw the picture yourself, and you can see he owns to the name of Phœnix—at least they call him John.”
“Of course I know little or nothing about the many secrets of your business. My only guide is the reading of character on the face, and I admit that is very deceptive.”