in a combative mood, and eager to get on with the fight
toward which he had been guided involuntarily by the whispered
instructions of his niece.

"Morton," he inquired briskly, "have you read those recent decisions of
Bischoff's on unfair contracts?" Then, as the other shook his head in
sullen negation, the old gentleman went on complacently: "Well, I
have--every word! Incidentally, the last one was against myself, so,
naturally, I took a rather keen interest. Especially, as the Court of
Appeals has just sustained it.... It happens, therefore, that I know
what I'm talking about."

"If it's fight you want, you'll get it--more than you want, I fancy,"
Morton growled. "We'll put the price down to nine cents, and break you."

"You might as well put your price down to eight cents, while you're
about it," Delancy retorted, with a chuckle. "You see, your price won't
really matter a particle to us, since we have a fair--notice, please,
that I said fair--contract at fifteen cents for five years, with a
privilege of renewal at the same terms. Oh, yes, put your price down to
eight cents, by all means!"

Carrington's face turned purple, as he heard the fleering announcement
of his rival's success, and Morton betrayed signs of a consuming
anxiety.

"Have you such a contract?" he questioned, more mildly than he had
spoken hitherto.

Delancy turned to face Hamilton, and put the question bluntly.

"Have we, Charles?" There was no reply forthcoming from the distracted
young man, only a burst of sardonic laughter. It seemed to him clear
that everyone had gone mad together. Quickly, then, the old gentleman
directed the question to his niece. "Have we, Mrs. Partner?"

"You bet we have!" Cicily answered on the instant, inelegantly, but with
convincing emphasis.

A faint ray of illumination stole into the mental blackness of
Hamilton. Under its influence, he addressed Morton with a half-sneer:

"Do you think any man would have the nerve to try bluffing on a thing
like that?" In his thoughts there was a forceful emphasis on the word
"man," but he carefully avoided letting it appear in the spoken word.

There followed a lengthy and acrimonious debate among the men, to which
Cicily listened with an air of half-amused, half-bored tolerance. She
was, in fact, thrilling with delight over her inspiration, which had at
last come after such long waiting. She felt an intuitive conviction that
her ruse would win the battle for her husband