Page:Knaves of Diamonds.pdf/41

22 to upset the equanimity of a respectable and substantial citizen of Diamondopolis, and yet his friends saw his hands spasmodically go up to his collar. His fat cheeks and low forehead suddenly became a deep bluish purple, and his eyes, bloodshot and staring, started half out of their sockets. Fumbling feebly with his fast tightening collar, he half gasped, half gurgled:

"Dog—ten thou'—done, by " and then he reeled back and pitched sideways into the road, and before they could get him back into the bar, he was dead.

"Never knew poor Gussy to have 'em before," one of his friends sympathisingly remarked to another when they had seen the remains safely on to the ambulance. "D'you think there really was a dog there? Blethd if I did—the thing looked to me more like a rat. Come on, let's go and 'ave another, it's given me quite a turn."