“And when all the rest of us are discussing our ventures, none of us ever know what a single venture of yours is!”

“And none of you ever will from me, Lammle,” replied Fledgeby, with another internal chuckle; “that certainly is the way I do it.”

“Why of course it is, I know!” rejoined Lammle, with a flourish of frankness, and a laugh, and stretching out his hands as if to show the universe a remarkable man in Fledgeby. “If I hadn’t known it of my Fledgeby, should I have proposed our little compact of advantage, to my Fledgeby?”

“Ah!” remarked Fascination, shaking his head slyly. “But I am not to be got at in that way. I am not vain. That sort of vanity don’t pay, Lammle. No, no, no. Compliments only make me hold my tongue the more.”