irst
time I used it, it broke at six thousand feet. I was over the sea at
the time, and had to glide nearly four miles to make a landing. Can
you b-beat it?'

"When the grocer put up his shutters two hectic hours later, he was a
weary man. In the interval he had been respectively a toad, a picture
post-card, and a tin of baked beans. And somebody had knocked him off
the counter during his third metamorphosis, so he felt like death. All
the same, before going to bed, he sat down and wrote to the Lord
Chamberlain, asking for permission to display the Royal Arms. Just to
make it quite clear that he wasn't relying on hoof-oil, he added that
he was shortly expecting a fine consignment of maize and other
commodities.

"The postscript settled it.

"The permission was granted, the king 'dealt' elsewhere in future, and
the witch was given three hours to leave the kingdom. So the grocer
lost his two worst customers and got the advertisement of his life.
Which goes to show, my children, that if only---- Hullo! Here's a new
shift."

It was true.

The eight croupiers were going off duty. As they vacated their seats,
eight other gentlemen in black immediately replaced them.

Berry extinguished his cigarette and handed me his last bunch of notes.
In exchange for these, with the peculiar delicacy of his kind, the
croupier upon my right selected, arrayed and offered me counters of the
value of forty English pounds.

He might have been spared his pains.

As I was piling the money by Berry's side--

"_Zero,_" announced a nasal voice.

"We're off," said my brother-in-law. "Will you see that they pay me
right?"

One hundred and seventy-five pounds.

Ere I had completed my calculation--

"_Zero,_" repeated the nasal voice.

"I said so," said Berry, raising his eyebrows. "I had the maximum that
time. Will you be so good? Thank you."

Trembling with excitement, I started to count the equivalent of four
hundred and ninety pounds.

Berry was addressing the croupier.

"No. Don't touch the stake. She's not finished yet."

"_Esta hecho?_"

"Don't leave it all," begged Daphne. "Take----"

"_No vas mas._"

Desperately I started to check the money again....

"_Zero._"

There was a long gasp of wonderment, immediately followed by a buzz of
exclamation. The croupiers were smiling. Jill was jumping up and down
in her seat. Adele was shaking Jonah by the arm. My sister was
clinging to Berry, imploring