red them. He was not so
formidable, after all. Despite the act that he had effected an
entrance in the face of Letton's instructions to the outer office, he
showed no indication of making a scene or playing rough.

"Well," Daylight demanded good-humoredly, "ain't you-all got a good
word for your pardner? Or has his sure enough brilliance plumb dazzled
you-all?"

Letton made a dry sound in his throat. Dowsett sat quietly and waited,
while Leon Guggenhammer struggled into articulation.

"You have certainly raised Cain," he said.

Daylight's black eyes flashed in a pleased way.

"Didn't I, though!" he proclaimed jubilantly. "And didn't we fool'em!
I was totally surprised. I never dreamed they would be that easy.

"And now," he went on, not permitting the pause to grow awkward,
"we-all might as well have an accounting. I'm pullin' West this
afternoon on that blamed Twentieth Century." He tugged at his grip,
got it open, and dipped into it with both his hands. "But don't
forget, boys, when you-all want me to hornswoggle Wall Street another
flutter, all you-all have to do is whisper the word. I'll sure be
right there with the goods."

His hands emerged, clutching a great mass of stubs, check-books, and
broker's receipts. These he deposited in a heap on the big table, and
dipping again, he fished out the stragglers and added them to the pile.
He consulted a slip of paper, drawn from his coat pocket, and read
aloud:--

"Ten million twenty-seven thousand and forty-two dollars and
sixty-eight cents is my figurin' on my expenses. Of course that-all's
taken from the winnings before we-all get to figurin' on the whack-up.
Where's your figures? It must a' been a Goddle mighty big clean-up."

The three men looked their bepuzzlement at one another. The man was a
bigger fool than they had imagined, or else he was playing a game which
they could not divine.

Nathaniel Letton moistened his lips and spoke up.

"It will take some hours yet, Mr. Harnish, before the full accounting
can be made. Mr. Howison is at work upon it now. We--ah--as you say,
it has been a gratifying clean-up. Suppose we have lunch together and
talk it over. I'll have the clerks work through the noon hour, so that
you will have ample time to catch your train."

Dowsett and Guggenhammer manifested a relief that was almost obvious.
The situation was clearing. It was disconcerting, under the
circumstances, to be pent in the same room with