Page:Robert Barr - Lord Stranleigh Philanthropist.djvu/331

 a search will show his pockets full of English banknotes; the flimsies that have ever been the curse of Europe."

"You have no right to make such a demand. However, as a matter of fact, I have less than a hundred pounds left. Here they are. I regret that luck has been against you, Lieutenant, but if you had won the last hazard, I should have occupied the position in which you now find yourself, namely, I should be compelled to send to my bank for more money. Of course I did not anticipate any trouble. I never had the pleasure of meeting the Lieutenant before. But let us have no disagreement."

"Easy to say that," growled the Lieutenant, "with three hundred and twenty thousand pounds in your grip."

"But I shall now propose to release my grip, unless any man here says the money was won unfairly."

"No one asserts that," said the Due d'Archambault.

"Very well. Lieutenant. We are here, as it were, two foreigners, Austrian and English, in the most gallant country in the world. I make a sporting offer that will appeal to this gallantry. But first let me ask you Are you a married man?"

"No," replied the Lieutenant.