suddenly and flung back his head. "Oh," he breathed, "I tell
you she's going to smile to-night. I can see the light in her eyes. I
have a feeling that she's going to be very kind ... very kind ...
somehow ..."

We let him linger over the fond reflection, eyeing one another
uneasily. It was, we felt, but the prelude to a more formidable attack.

We were right.

"I demand," barked Berry, "that I be allowed the wherewithal to
prosecute my suit."

"Not a farthing," said Daphne. "To think that that two hundred pounds
is gone makes me feel ill."

"That's exactly why I want to win it back--and more also." He looked
round desperately. "Anybody want a birthright? For two hundred and
fifty quid--I'd change my name."

"It sounds idiotic, I know," said I, "but supposing--supposing you
lost."

"I shan't to-night," said Berry.

"Sure?"

"Positive. I tell you, I feel----"

"And you," said Jonah scornfully, "you have the temerity to talk about
praying for others' souls. You sit there and----"

"I tell you," insisted Berry, "that I have a premonition. Look here.
If I don't have a dart to-night, I shall never be the same man
again.... Boy, I implore you----"

I shook my head.

"Nothing doing," I said. "You'll thank us one day."

"You don't understand," wailed Berry. "You've never known the feeling
that you were bound to win."

"Yes, I have--often. And it's invariably proved a most expensive
sensation."

There was a moment's silence. Then--

"Right," said my brother-in-law. "You're one and all determined to see
me go down. You've watched me drop two hundred, and not one of you's
going to give me a hand to help me pick it up. It may be high-minded,
but it's hardly cordial. Some people might call it churlish.... Upon
my soul, you are a cold-blooded crowd. Have you ever known a deal I
wouldn't come in on? And now, because you are virtuous, I'm to lose my
fun.... Ugh! Hymn Number Four Hundred and Seventy-Seven, 'The Cakes
and Ale are Over.'"

Struggling with laughter, Adele left her seat and, coming quickly
behind him, set her white hands upon his shoulders.

"Dear old chap," she said, laying her cheek against his, "look at it
this way. You're begging and praying us to let you down. Yes, you
are. And if we helped you to break your word, neither you nor we would
ever, at the bottom of our hearts, think quite so much of us again.
And that's not good enough. Even if you won five thousand po