This, which was one of the rehearsed speeches, went off very well, and they began to feel comfortable again. "That's me, by Jinks!" announced Pickins, slapping his leg. "I'll be one of your steady customers, all right. When'll I get this first twenty thousand?" "Right away," said Mr. Phelps, rising. "Just wait a moment till I talk it over with the engraver and see if he has the supply ready." "The supply's all right," declared Wallingford. "These boys will 'tend to the business with you, Mr. Pickins. I'm very glad to have met you. I'll probably see you to-night at the show. I have to go back and look after a little more engraving just now." And, shaking hands cordially with Mr. Pickins, he rose to go. "Wait a minute, Mombley," said Phelps amidst a general scowl, and he walked outside with Wallingford. "Fine work, old man," he complimented, keeping his suavity with no little effort. "We can go right in and pick our bunch of posies any minute." "Go right ahead!" said Wallingford heartily. "I'm glad to have helped you out a little." Mr. Phelps looked at him in sour speculation. "Of course you're in on it," he observed with a great air of making a merely perfunctory remark. "Me?" inquired Wallingford in surprise. "Not on your life. I only played engraver for accommodation. I thought I did a grand little piece of work, too." "But we can't go through without you," insisted Mr. Phelps desperately, ignoring the other's maddening complacency and sticking to the main point. "It takes twenty thousand and we only have five thousand apiece. We're looking to you for the other five." Wallingford looked him squarely in the eyes, with an entire change of manner, and chuckled. "There are four reasons, Phelps, why I won't," he kindly explained. "The first is, I never do anything in partnership; second, I never pike; third, I won't take a fall out of any game that has the brown-and-white-striped clothes at the end of it; fourth, Billy might not get the satchels switched right; _extra, I won't fool with any farmer that strikes a match on the sole of his boot_!" The fifth and extra reason was so unexpected and was laid before Mr. Phelps with such meaning emphasis that that gentleman could only drop his jaw and gape in reply. Wallingford laid both hands on his shoulders and chuckled in his face. "You're a fiercely unimaginative bunch," he said. "Let's don't try to do any more business together. Just come up to my room to-night and have a friendly game of stud poker." At last Green-Goods Harry found his tongue. "You go to hell!" said he. Back in their common sitting-room, Wallingford found Daw studying some gaudy samples of stock certificates. "Blackie, did you tell this gang of yours that they didn't drink enough to suit me?" Wallingford demanded. Blackie grinned. "They wanted to know why you wouldn't warm up," he admitted.