Bones Hits Back

They might not have met even under these circumstances, but for the
fact that some dispute arose as to who was to pay the gardener. That
matter had been amicably settled, and the two had reached the coffee
stage of their luncheon, when Mr. de Vinne mentioned the
inadvisability--as a rule--of discussing business matters at lunch, and
cited a deplorable happening when an interested eavesdropper had
overheard certain important negotiations and had most unscrupulously
taken advantage of his discovery.

"One of these days," said Mr. de Vinne between his teeth, "I'll be even
with that gentleman." (He did not call him a gentleman.) "I'll give
him Tibbetts! He'll be sorry he was ever born."

"Tibbetts?" said Mr. Fred Pole, sitting bolt upright. "Not Bones?"

The other nodded and seemed surprised.

"You don't know the dear fellow, do you?" he asked, only he did not use
the expression "dear fellow."

"Know him?" said Mr. Fred, taking a long breath. "I should jolly well
say I did know him. And my brother Joe knows him. That fellow----"

"That fellow----" began Mr. de Vinne, and for several minutes they
talked together in terms which were uncomplimentary to Augustus
Tibbetts.

It appeared, though they did not put the matter so crudely, that they
had both been engaged in schemes for robbing Bones, and that in the
pursuance of their laudable plans they had found themselves robbed by
Bones.

Mr. de Vinne ordered another coffee and prepared to make an afternoon
of it. They discussed Bones from several aspects and in various
lights, none of which revealed his moral complexion at its best.