“Then why this joyless demeanour?” begged Orde.
Charlie grumbled, fiercely inarticulate; but Johnny Challan interposed with a chuckle of enjoyment.
“He got 'bunked.'”
“Tell us!” cried Orde delightedly.
“It was down at McNeill's place,” explained Johnny Challan; encouraged by the interest of his audience. “They was a couple of sports there who throwed out three cards on the table and bet you couldn't pick the jack. They showed you where the jack was before they throwed, and it surely looked like a picnic, but it wasn't.”
“Three-card monte,” said Newmark.
“How much?” asked Simms.
“About fifty dollars,” replied the boy.
Orde turned on the disgruntled cook.
“And you had fifty in your turkey, camping with this outfit of hard citizens!” he cried. “You ought to lose it.”