drop in the house. I don't want you camping out and catching cold and
missing any of the luxuries you're accustomed to, so I'll start along
ahead in a day or so myself and see what kind of accommodations I can
secure."

"Swipe me!" said the Flopper again. "An' to think of me wastin' me
talent on rubber-neck fleets!"

A puzzled little frown puckered Helena's forehead.

"I was thinking about the deaf and dumb man," she said slowly. "How
about him, when we pull this off--will he stand for it--and what'll he
do?"

"Aw!" said Pale Face Harry impatiently. "He don't count! He'll have bats
in his belfry anyway, and if he ain't he'll go off his chump for fair
getting stuck on himself when he sees the stunt he'll think he's done.
He'll be looking for the wings between his shoulder blades, and hunting
for the halo around his head."

"Harry is waking up," observed Doc Madison affably. "That's about the
idea, Helena. I haven't seen the Patriarch yet, but I don't imagine from
his description that it'll be very hard to make him believe in himself.
He doesn't stand for anything--we don't deal him any cards--he's just
the kitty that circles around with the jackpots while we annex the
chips."

Doc Madison reached into his vest pocket, took out a penknife whose
handle was gold-chased, opened it, and very carefully cut the article he
had read from the paper.