ords," said my brother-in-law, "you attribute caution to the
advance of old age and gluttony. I see. To which of your physical
infirmities do you ascribe a superabundance of treachery and bile?"

"That," said I, "is due to external influence. The sewer-gas of your
temperament----"

"I refuse," said Berry, "to sit still and hear my soul compared to a
drain at the very outset of what promises to be a toothsome repast. It
might affect my appetite."

I raised my eyebrows.

"Needless anxiety again," I sighed. "I don't know what's the matter
with you to-day."

"By the way," said Daphne, "I quite forgot. Did you cash your cheque?"

"I did," said her husband.

"What did they give you?" said Jill.

"Fifty-three francs to the pound."

"Fifty-_three_?" cried Daphne and Adele in horror-stricken tones.

"Fifty-three francs dead. If I'd cashed it yesterday, as, but for your
entreaties, I should have done, I should have got fifty-six."

"But when you found it was down, why didn't you wait?"

"In the first place," retorted my brother-in-law, "it isn't down; it's
up. In the second place, I was down--to four francs twenty-five. In
the third place, to-morrow it may be up to fifty."

"It's much more likely to go back to fifty-five."

"My dear girl," said Berry, "with the question of likelihood the
movements of the comic Exchange have nothing to do. It's a law unto
itself. Compared with the Money Market of to-day, Monte Carlo's a
Sunday-school. I admit we'd have more of a show if we didn't get the
paper a day late.... Still, that makes it more sporting."

"I don't see any sport in losing six hundred francs," said his wife.
"It's throwing away money." Here my cousin reappeared. "Jonah, why
did you let him do it?"

"Do what?" said Jonah.

"Cash such a cheque when the franc's dropped."

"It hasn't," said Jonah. "It's risen."

"How," piped Jill, "can it have risen when it's gone down?"

"It hasn't gone down," said I.

"But fifty-three's less than fifty-six."

"Let me explain," said Berry, taking an olive from a dish. "You see
that salt-cellar?"

"Yes," said Jill, staring.

"Well, that represents a dollar. The olive is a franc, and this here
roll is a pound." He cleared his throat. "When the imports exceed the
exports, the roll rises"--up went his hand--"as good bread should. But
when the exports exceed the imports, or the President backs a winner,
or something, then the olive begins to soar.