first on one foot, then
the other.

"I don't mind; no; only--"

"Only what?" asked Malcourt. "I told you I couldn't afford to play cards
on this trip, but you insisted."

"Certainly, certainly! I expected to consider you as--as--"

"I'm your general manager and I'm ready at all times to earn my salary.
If you think it best to take me away from the estate for a junketing
trip and make me play cards you can do it of course; but if you think
I'm here to throw my money overboard I'm going back to-morrow!"

"Nonsense," said Portlaw; "you're not going back. There's nothing doing
in winter up there that requires your personal attention--"

"It's a bad winter for the deer--I ought to be there now--"

"Well, can't Blake and O'Connor attend to that?"

"Yes, I suppose they can. But I'm not going to waste the winter and my
salary in the semi-tropics just because you want me to--"

"O Lord!" said Portlaw, "what are you kicking about? Have I ever--"

"You force me to be plain-spoken; you never seem to understand that if
you insist on my playing the wealthy do-nothing that you've got to keep
me going. And I tell you frankly, Billy, I'm tired of it."

"Oh, don't flatten your ears and show your teeth," protested Portlaw
amiably. "I only supposed you had enough--with such a salary--to give
yourself a little rope on a trip like this, considering you've nobody
but yourself to look out for, and that _I_ do that and pay you heavily
for the privilege"--his voice had become a mumble--"and all you do is to
take vacations in New York or sit on a horse and watch an army of men
plant trout and pheasants, and cut out ripe timber--O hell!"

"_What_ did you say?"

Portlaw became good-humouredly matter of fact: "I _said_ 'hell,'
Louis--which meant, 'what's the use of squabbling.' It also means that
you are going to have what you require as a matter of course; so come on
down to my state-room and let us figure it up before Jim Wayward begins
to turn restless and limp toward the card-room."

As they turned and strolled forward, Malcourt nudged him:

"Look at the fireworks over Lake Worth," he said; "probably Palm Beach's
welcome to her new and beardless prophet."

"It's one of their cheap Venetian fetes," muttered Portlaw. "I know 'em;
they're rather amusing. If we weren't sailing in an hour we'd go. No
doubt Hamil's in it already; probably Cardross put him next to a bunch
of dreams and he's right in it at this very moment."

"With t