"My back was turned only for a moment, and
Wilkins was down having his supper."
"You can go," Phineas Duge said coldly, waving him out of the room.
"What do you want with me, Weiss?"
"A few minutes' sensible talk," Weiss answered. "It will do you no harm
to listen to us. Send your servant away and give us a quarter of
an hour."
Phineas Duge hesitated, but only for a moment. These men had come
openly, and they were known to be his enemies. It was not possible that
they intended to use any violence. He turned to the butler, who stood
behind his chair.
"Place chairs for these gentlemen," he ordered, "and leave the room."
They sat on his left-hand side, Phineas Duge pushed the decanter of
Burgundy toward them, and the cigars. Then he leaned back in his chair
and waited.
"Duge, we ought to have come to you before," Weiss began. "We are
playing a child's game, all of us."
"Whatever the game may be," Duge answered, "it is not I who invented
it."
"We grant that to start with," Weiss answered. "We were in the wrong.
You have done a little better than hold your own against us. We are
several millions of dollars the poorer and you the richer for our split.
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