human
I don't see anything to giggle at! she declared.
gpt
Johnny Gamble's a friend of mine. I'm going home.
human
Don't, Polly, laughed Constance.
gpt
Why, this is one of Johnny's roses;
human
I'm all mussed up in my mind, complained Polly in a maze of perplexity.
gpt
Johnny Gamble made a million dollars so he could ask you to throw away your million and marry him, and you were so tickled with the idea that you kept score for him.
human
I kept score because it was fun. He never told me why he wanted the money.
gpt
You may look like an innocent kid, but you knew that much,
human
To tell you the truth, Polly, I did suspect it,
gpt
Yes, and you liked it,
human
It was flattering, she acknowledged,
gpt
Suppose he did? she demanded.
human
Everybody knew it.
gpt
They had no business to know it!
human
Every place I went that day I heard the same thing, continued Constance much aggrieved--
gpt
Johnny Gamble's million, and me, and Gresham, and the million dollars I would have to forfeit if I didn't marry Paul. It was million, million, wherever I turned!
human
The million-dollar bride,
gpt
Don't! cried Constance.
human
Please don't, Polly! You've done quite enough. Even you came to me out there that day to tell me that now Johnny had made his million and was coming to propose to me. Why, you knew it before I did.
gpt
I'm sorry I found it out, apologized Polly.
human
I got it from Loring.
gpt
Why didn't you say that it was Loring who told you?
human
I didn't know you were jealous,
gpt
Jealous! exclaimed Constance.
human
Why, Johnny wasn't even civil to any other girl.
gpt
Then why did you quarrel with him?
human
I didn't, denied Constance.
gpt
He came the minute you left and I'd have screamed if he had proposed then, so I went away. He dropped his straw hat, and it rolled after me and nearly touched me. He dropped it every time I saw him that day. Also he added the final indignity--I overheard him tell Mr. Courtney that he intended to marry me whether I liked it or not. Now, Polly, seriously, what would you have done if anything like that had happened to you?
human
I'd have taken the hat away from him,
gpt
I didn't think of that,
human
No, and instead here's what you've done, Polly pointed out to her:
gpt
You turned Johnny loose to look after himself, and he isn't capable of it since he fell in love; so for the last two weeks he's been as savage as any ordinary business man. That's one thing. For another, you've made yourself sick just pining and grieving for a sight of Johnny Gamble.
human
I haven't! indignantly denied Constance, and to prove that assertion her eyes filled with tears. She covered them with her handkerchief and Polly petted her, and they both felt better.
gpt
I think I'll dress, declared Constance after she had been thus refreshed.
human
My headache's much improved and I think I'd like to go somewhere.
gpt
You know everybody was to have gathered here to join Courtney's Decoration Day party this afternoon,
human
Yes, I remember that, retorted Polly,
gpt
Please, implored Constance,
human
Yes?
gpt
Tell Johnny to bring his Baltimore straw hat.
human
You have your nerve to come to me,
gpt
There's nobody else to go to, explained Collaton, with an attempt at jauntiness.
human
I'm dead broke, and if I don't have two thousand dollars to-morrow I'll quite likely be pinched.
gpt
I'm jealous, stated Johnny.
human
I had intended to do it myself.
gpt
I've been expecting you to, acknowledged Collaton.
human
That's one of the reasons I came to you.
gpt
I admire you, observed Johnny dryly.
human
You bled me for two years, and yet you have the ingrowing gall to come and tell me you're broke.
gpt
Well, it's the truth, defended Collaton.
human
Look here, Johnny; I've heard that you made a lot of money in the last few weeks, but you haven't had any more attachments against you, have you?
gpt
You bet I haven't, returned Johnny savagely.
human
I've been waiting for just one more attempt, and then I intended--
gpt
I know, interrupted Collaton.
human
You intended to beat Gresham and Jacobs and me to a pulp; and then have us pinched for disorderly conduct, and try to dig up the evidence at the trial.
gpt
Well, something like that,
human
I knew it, corroborated Collaton.
gpt
I told them when to stop.
human
I guess you'll be a good witness, surmised Johnny.
gpt
How deep were you in on this Birchard deal? How much did you get?
human
Did Gresham and Birchard pull something?
gpt
Well, yes, agreed Johnny with a wince, as he thought of his lost million.
human
They did pull a little trick. Did you know Birchard very well?
gpt
I wouldn't say what I know about Birchard except on a witness-stand, chuckled Collaton,
human
I've passed him up, stated Johnny.
gpt
The only people I'm after are Gresham and Jacobs and you.
human
I wonder if you wouldn't pin a medal on one of us if he'd give you the other two,
gpt
We're not coining medals this year, declared Johnny,
human
It's a bet, decided Collaton promptly.
gpt
I split up with Gresham two or three weeks ago at Coney Island, when he wanted me to go in on a big scheme against you, and I suppose it was this Birchard stunt. I told him I'd had enough. Your money began to look troublesome to me. That was the day you were down there with the girl.
human
There's no girl in this, warned Johnny.
gpt
Now tell me just what you can do.
human
Will you wipe me off the slate?
gpt
Clean as a whistle, promised Johnny.
human
If my lawyer lets you be convicted I'll go to jail in your place.
gpt
It's like getting over-change by mistake, gratefully returned Collaton.
human
I'm tired of the game, Johnny, and if I can get out of this I'll stay straight the balance of my life.
gpt
You'll die in the top tier, with the pentitentiary chaplain writing your farewell letters, prophesied Johnny.
human
What did you say you could do?
gpt
Well, I can incriminate not only Jacobs but Gresham in those phoney attachments, and I can hand you the Gamble-Collaton books, set forth Collaton.
human
Gresham got them away from me to take care of and then held them over me as a threat; but I got them back yesterday by offering to pound his head off. He's a bigger coward than I am.
gpt
How much money did you say you wanted?
human
Five thousand,
gpt
You said two.
human
I have to have two and I need the rest. I thought maybe I could sell you my interest in The Gamble-Collaton Irrigation Company. There's several thousand acres of land out there, you know.
gpt
I haven't laid a finger on you yet, Johnny reminded him,
human
Well, say you give me the money for fun then, amended Collaton.
gpt
I didn't know anything about this Birchard deal, but since you've mentioned it I can piece together a lot of things that mean something now. I'll help you chase that down, and you can afford to spare me five thousand. Why, Johnny, I'm a poor sucker that has made the unfortunate financial mistake of being crooked; and you're the luckiest cuss in the world. To begin with, you're square; and that's the biggest stroke of luck that can happen. Everybody likes you, you're a swift money-maker, and you've got a girl--now don't get chesty--that would make any man go out and chew bulldogs.