y he said:

"Give me the stones--give me them I say. We've no time for your d----d
fooling. Hand them over. Come----"

For a moment the gambler just sat and looked at his master. A giant in
physical strength compared with the slightly built foreigner, he could
have overpowered him as a child might crush an egg-shell, but he lacked
the mentality, the magnetism of the Italian. He was cowed, dominated
by the stronger mind. Grumbling, he began to fumble at his waist:

"I don't see what's the hurry."

"But I see," exclaimed Keralio, his eyes growing larger, as he already
saw the colossal stones glittering in his hand.

The next instant Handsome had slid his hand under his waistcoat and
unbuckled a belt he wore next his shirt. Unfastening a pocket and
taking out the contents, he growled:

"Here they are! I'm glad to get rid of the d----d things."

With a cry of exultant joy Keralio took hold of the stones and, going
to the window, greedily feasted his eyes on them. Report had not
exaggerated the value and extraordinary beauty of the gems. They were
worth more than a million.

"What do I get out of it?" whined the gambler.

Keralio regarded him with contempt. Dryly he said:

"You get out of it that you're not sitting in the electric chair for
murdering your twin brother. You get out of it that you're playing the
role of the millionaire, basking in the smiles of your brother's
charming wife, and making a drunken beast of yourself--that's what you
get out of it. Isn't it enough?"

Handsome winced. Keralio had a direct way of saying things to which
there was no answer possible.

"All right," he grumbled, "I'm not kicking."

"No--I wouldn't if I were you."

Changing the topic, Keralio carelessly lit a cigarette and, between the
puffs, asked:

"How's your wife?"

"My wife? You mean his wife?"

Keralio smiled.

"Yours--for the time being."

Handsome scowled.

"It isn't so easy as I thought," he replied. "I don't know if she
suspects something's wrong or not, but ever since that evening she was
called to Philadelphia she avoids me like the pest. I can see in her
face that she's puzzled. 'It's my husband, and yet not my
husband'--that's what she's thinking all the time. I can guess her
thoughts by the expression on her face."

Keralio shrugged his shoulders.

"That's your own fault. I gave you the opportunity. You failed to
profit by it. You got drunk the first night you arrived. Ke