he part.

"You mean you'll have to shut up shop?" inquired Rushford.

"Eet preaks my heart to say eet, monsieur; but I fear eet will come to
t'at, unless--"

"Unless what?" asked Rushford, eyeing him as he hesitated.

"Unless I shall pe able to interes' monsieur--"

Rushford grunted and stared out of the window at the dunes, puffing his
cigar meditatively. He thought of the comfortable bed, of the admirable
cuisine--he would hate to give them up. It would mean going to the other
hotel, and the mere idea made him shiver. Anything but that!

His host watched him in an agony of apprehension.

"What does it cost a day to run this shebang?" asked the American at
last.

Monsieur Pelletan, with feverish haste, produced a paper from his
pocket.

"I haf anticipate' monsieur's question; t'is statement will show heem."

Rushford took it and glanced at the total.

"Hmmmm. Four hundred and eighty francs--say a hundred dollars."

"T'at, monsieur," explained Pelletan, "iss based upon our present
custom. As pusiness increase', so do t'e expense increase."

"Of course."

"But not in t'e same ratio as t'e receipts. A full house wins so much as
six hundret francs t'e tay."

"Yes," assented Rushford, "a full house is a mighty nice thing. But now
you seem to be holding only a bob-tail."

"A pop-tail?"

"No matter--go ahead with the story. You say it costs you a hundred
dollars a day to keep your doors open. What's the heaviest item?"

"T'e greates' item at present iss t'e chef. He iss a fery goot one--I
haf feared to let heem go."

"That was right. You'd better not let him go if you want to keep us
here. How many rooms have you?"

Pelletan produced a second slip of paper.

"For t'at, also, I wass prepared, my tear Monsieur Rushford," he said.
"T'e tariff of charges iss also t'ere."

Rushford looked it over with some care. Then he stared out across the
sands again, the corners of his mouth twitching. Evidently the proposal
appealed to his sense of humour.

"See here, Pelletan," he said, abruptly, turning back, "is there a
hoodoo on the house, or what's the matter?"

"A--I peg monsieur's pardon," stammered Pelletan.

"How does it happen that the hotel over there is full and this one's
empty?"

"Eet iss t'is way, monsieur," explained the Frenchman, eagerly. "For
many year, long pefore t'is new part off t'e house wass puilt, we
enjoyed t'e confidence unt patronage of Hiss Highness, t'e Prince of
Zeit-Zeit, who