"I think that I can risk it now," he mused, and then, in a crisp, hard voice, he suddenly said: "I don't mind parting with a twenty-pound note, Casimir, if you will tell me all you know about that beauty.

You need it now--more than I.I am to be the judge of the value of your story, however.

Mark me, I know the main features, but I also know that you have met her in the old days." The broken-down artist flushed under the changed relation of guest and paid tool.
He uneasily stammered, as he filled a brandy glass, "As a loan--as a loan!" But Hawke was sternly business-like in his reply.
"Don't make any pretenses with me.

You are hard down on your luck, and you know it.

This is a mere matter of business." He unfolded a bundle of notes and carelessly tossed two ten-pound notes over to Casimir, who seized them with trembling fingers.