"Did you say you wanted to borrow a pocket electric flash lamp?" asked
Blake, wishing to make the caller repeat his request. As he asked this
question Blake looked at his chums, as though to ask them to take
particular note of the reply.
"I should like to, yes, if you have one to spare. There are three of
you, and, I presume, like most travelers, you each have one. I am alone
in a single stateroom, and I may have need of a light. I will return it
to you at the end of the voyage, or buy it of you at a good price. You
see, I have a little Jew in me. I will make a bargain with you. And I
will pay you well, something a Jew proverbially does not like to do. But
I realize the value of what I want, and that the market is not well
supplied, so you may take advantage of my situation. My battery is
either worn out or the light is broken. It will not flash."
He shoved down the little sliding catch, but there was no glow in the
tiny tungsten bulb.
"You have me at your mercy if you wish to sell me a lamp," he went on,
with a smile and a shrug of his shoulders, not unlike that of Lieutenant
Secor.
"Hasn't your friend a spare light?" asked Joe quickly.
"My friend?" repeated the German, as though surprised.
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