twenty-six thousand pounds to pay you on Monday. To save my life, I
could not raise twenty-six thousand farthings! So much for me."

The man Masters ground his teeth.

"So much for you!" he muttered.

"Take the case next," Sir Richard continued, "of my friend Merries
here. Merries is an Earl, it is true, but he never had a penny to bless
himself with. He's tried acting, reporting, marrying--anything to make
an honest living. So far, I am afraid we must consider Lord Merries as
something of a failure, eh?"

"A rotten failure, I should say," that young nobleman declared gloomily.

"Lord Merries is, to put it briefly, financially unsound," Sir Richard
declared.

"What is the amount of your debt to Mr. Masters, Jim?"

"Eleven thousand two hundred pounds," Lord Merries answered.

"And we may take it, I presume, for granted that you have not that sum,
nor anything like it, at your disposal?" Sir Richard asked.

"Not a fiver!" Lord Merries declared with emphasis.

"We come now, Mr. Masters, to our friend Colonel Dickinson," Sir
Richard continued. "Colonel Dickinson is, perhaps, in a more favourable
situation than any of us. He has a small but regular income, and he has
expectations which it is not possible to mortgage fully. At the same
time, it will be many years before they can--er--fructify. He is,
therefore, with us in this somewhat unpleasant predicament in which we
find ourselves."

"Cut it short," Masters growled. "I'm sick of so much talk. What's it
all mean?"

"It means simply this, Mr. Masters," Sir Richard said, "we want you to
take six months' bills for our indebtedness to you."

Masters rose to his feet. His thick lips were drawn a little apart. He
had the appearance of a savage and discontented animal.

"So that's why I've been asked here and fed up with wine and stuff, eh?"
he exclaimed thickly. "Well, my answer to you is soon given. NO! I'll
take bills from no man! My terms are cash on settling day--cash to pay
or cash to receive. I'll have no other!"

Sir Richard rose also to his feet.

"Mr. Masters, I beg of you to be reasonable," he said. "You will do
yourself no good by adopting this attitude. Facts are facts. We haven't
got a thousand pounds between us."

"I've heard that sort of a tale before," Masters answered, with a sneer.
"Job Masters is too old a bird to be caught by such chaff. I'll take my
risks, gentlemen. I'll take my risks."

He moved toward the door. No one spoke a word.