"Well—yes."
"And you were"—
"Rejected, by Jove!"
"So was I!"
The day following this disastrous picnic, the baggage of Mr. Edwin Salisbury and Mr. Charles Burnham was sent to the depot at Wikahasset Station, and they presented themselves at the hotel-office with a request for their bill. As Jerry Swayne deposited their key upon its hook, he drew forth a small tri-cornered billet from the pigeon-hole beneath, and presented it.
"Left for you, this morning, gentlemen."
It was directed to both, and Charley read it over Ned's shoulder. It ran thus:—
"Dear Boys,—The next time you divert yourselves by throwing dice for two young ladies, we pray you not to do so in the presence of a valet who is upon terms of intimacy with the maid of one of them.
"With many sincere thanks for the amusement you have given us,—often when you least suspected it,—we bid you a lasting adieu, and remain, with the best wishes,
"Brant House, { Hattie Chapman,