Page:Rowland--The closing net.djvu/27

Rh "All right," said I. "Come along."

This made them laugh even harder, though nobody took it seriously. When I explained that I meant business, and was ready to do the trick then and there, they stopped laughing and looked astonished.

"There you have American methods!" says Jeff. "No time like the present, eh, old pal?"

"But you have not yet looked over the ground!" cries Chu-Chu, flinging out his hands.

"I'll do that when I get there," said I. "That's my custom. It is a great mistake to go prying around beforehand, unless the job is very complicated, which, from all accounts, this is not. I am just like a European nobleman—at home in any rich man's house."

There was another laugh; Léontine gave me a look that set my heart to hammering.

"How about tools?" asks Jeff.

"I will stop at my hotel and run up and get what I need. I always carry them with me," said I.

Well, it was a bit wild, but it was a wild crowd, and the idea hit them in the eye. There was a dash and go to it which struck their crooked natures in the right spot, so when Léontine jumped up and swore that she was going to have a hand in the game, nobody had a word of protest.

"I've got a maillot upstairs," says she. "I had it made for a masquerade to which I went as a souris d'hôtel."

"Where you stole the hearts of all the men," says Chu-Chu.