"Are you hit, Raney?"
"Well, of course, as a Member I get four hundred a year less income-tax," he answered cheerfully.
"Talk seriously, you idiot."
O'Rane tossed a silver-topped bottle into the air and caught it again.
"I can't take myself seriously just now, Jim," he said. "We haven't earned a penny since Austria mobilized and our men were called up——"
"You save your wage-bill," I put in.
"We've got contracts, old man, and we've got penalties. Morris spent his morning raising every last penny he could lay hands on; we've been buying in the open market with the price soaring against us—and we shall just be able to supply the Ubique Motor and Cab Company to the end of our term. We were rather pleased to get that contract, too," he added, with a laugh. "As for the others——"
"What others?"
"Half a dozen more. Just enough to break us very comfortably."
"Rot, Raney!"