"Let us all walk out on the St. Albans road without our cloaks, the last
man to turn homeward wins the entire stake."
"Good!" shouted Wentworth. "I must owe my ten pounds to the pot until
to-morrow."
"And I'll take the wager! Here's my money!" said Berkeley, throwing ten
pounds to the table.
"Will you go?" asked Crofts, addressing Hamilton.
That evening George was in a mood for any adventure having action in it,
for he was nearly out of money. He did not suspect the real purpose of
the absurd wager, and after a moment's consideration of the forty pounds
to be won, declared:--
"I'll win the pot if I have to go to Edinburgh!"
"And you, Churchill?" asked Crofts.
"You're a pack of fools, but I'll go," replied Churchill, knocking the
ashes from his pipe.
They drank their bowl of punch and immediately set off for the St. Albans
road.
"The Oxford road is nearer than the St. Albans. Why not take it?" asked
George.
"You said you were going to Edinburgh," returned Wentworth, "and,
besides, the St. Albans road is our wager, and that is the one we'll
take, unless you want to turn back and forfeit your stake."
To the St. Albans road they started, Crofts, Berkeley, and Wentworth
walking perhaps two hundred yards in advance of Churchill and Hamilton.
The rain was pouring down in torrents, and the night was so dark that
Hamilton and Churchill could not see the advance guard, though they heard
a deal of talking, laughing, and cursing ahead of them.
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