“I wouldn’t give you a cent for it!” Curtis snapped.  “Any one can see how it is done.”

“You can’t!” the man retorted, turning red.  “I’ll wager twenty dollars you can’t.”  Curtis accepted the wager, and at once did the trick.  He had seen through it at a glance—­there appeared no difficulty in it at all; and yet he was quite certain if he had been asked to do it the day before, he would have utterly failed.

“Now,” he said, “give me the money,”—­and the man complied with an oath.

“Any more tricks?” Curtis asked complacently.

“I know heaps,” the man rejoined.  “There’s one you won’t guess—­the seven card trick.”

He did it.  And so did Curtis.

“Well I’m——­” the man called Lemon ejaculated.

“He’s the dandiest cove at tricks we’ve ever struck.  Try him with the Prince and Slipper, Arnold!”

Arnold rather reluctantly assented, and Curtis burst out laughing.

“Why!” he said, “that’s the simplest of all!  See!” And it was done.  “You two had better come to an understanding with us or you’ll not shine to-night.  How about a game of Don?”

Lemon and Arnold agreed, but they had barely begun before Curtis cried out, “It’s no use, Lemon, I can see those deuces up your sleeve.  You’ve some up yours, too, Arnold—­the deuce of clubs and the deuce of hearts.  Moreover, you can tell our cards by notches and thumb smears on the backs.  I’ll show you how.”  He told the cards correctly—­there was no gainsaying it.  The men were overwhelmed.

“What are you, anyway?” Lemon asked; “tecs?”

“Never mind what we are!” Curtis said savagely.  “We know what you are—­and that’s where the rub comes in.  Now what are you going to pay us to hold our tongues?”

“Pay you!” Lemon hissed.  “Why, damn you—­nothing.  We’re not bankers.  All we’ve got to do is clear out and try somewhere else.”

“That might not be so easy as you imagine,” Hamar interposed.  “We would make it our business to have a scene first.  Why not come to terms?  We’ll not be over exorbitant—­and consider the convenience of not having to shift your quarters.”

“Well, of all the blooming frousts I’ve struck, none beats this,” Lemon said.  “Fancy being pipped by a couple of suckers like these.  Farmers, indeed!  Why don’t you call yourselves parsons?  How much do you want?”

After a prolonged haggling, Hamar and Curtis agreed to take fifty dollars; and, considering their penniless condition, they were by no means dissatisfied with their bargain.

They were now ready to go, and looking round for Kelson, found him engaged in a desperate tete-a-tete with the young lady at the bar, who, despite her avowed lack of faith in mankind, counted half the room her friends.  She promised Kelson that she would meet him at eight o’clock that evening; but as both she and he were quite used to making such promises and subsequently forgetting all about them, their rencontre resulted in only one thing, namely, in furnishing the three allies with the nucleus of the big fortune they intended making.