try and remember exactly what I
answered--but outside the door of the box Delmas joined me. He had
been concealed within and had heard everything that passed.

"'I can't say how grateful I am to you,' he said. 'It's a bit low
down, perhaps, but, then, we were dealing with a low-down person. You
thoroughly deserve those diamonds--will you accept an offer for them
from me? I should like to buy them for Miss Roberts and present them
to her on our reconciliation.' We came to terms then and there, and he
'phoned through to me an hour ago to say that he had made it up with
Miss Roberts, that she was delighted with the diamonds, and that they
are going to be married next month."

"So out of evil good comes," Hamar said, "the maxim for us, remember,
is--out of evil evil alone must come. What are you going to do to-day,
you two?"

"Rest!" said Kelson, "I'm tired."

"Eat!" said Curtis, "I'm hungry!"

"Now look here, this won't do," Hamar remarked, "you've earned your
rest, Matt, but you haven't, Ed. You can't go on eating eternally."

"Can't I?" Curtis snapped, "I'm not so sure of that, I've years to
make up for."

"Then do the thing in moderation, for goodness sake!" Hamar
expostulated, "and recollect we must, at all costs, act together. We
have now twelve thousand dollars between us in the bank--that is to
say, the capital of the Firm of Hamar, Curtis and Kelson represents
that amount. It is our ambition to increase that amount--and to go on
increasing it till we can fairly claim to be the richest Firm in the
world. Now to do that we must work, and work hard, if we are to live
at the pace Ed is setting us--but there is no reason why we should
remain here, and I propose that we move elsewhere. I've got a scheme
in my head, rather a colossal one I admit, but not altogether
impossible."

"What is it?" Kelson asked.

"Yes, out with it," Curtis grunted.

"It is this," Hamar said, "I suggest that we go to London--London in
England--I guess it's the richest town in the world--and there set up
as sorcerers--The Sorcery Company Ltd. We should begin with divination
and juggling, and go on, according to the seven stages. We should of
course sell our cures and spells, and there is not the slightest doubt
but that we should make an enormous pile, with which we would
gradually buy up, not merely London, but the whole of England."

"That's rather a tall order," Kelson murmured.

"A small one, you mean," Curtis sneered, "you co