"Three loaves of bread and three half pounds of cheese."
"Let's have the money."
"_Uh-uh._ Bring it first."
"Show me the money."
Jeff held up two crumpled dollar bills. Pop walked to the entrance and
there came the click of his key turning in the lock. Breathless silence
reigned; this was a momentous occasion that must be properly observed.
Ten minutes later the key clicked again and Pop came in with parcels.
"Three loaves of bread," he read from a slip, "eighteen cents. A pound
and a half of cheese, thirty cents. And," he looked maliciously at Jeff,
"four pounds of the best ground steak for the dog, one dollar."
Jeff grinned; his own words had backfired on him. He had intended to
give Pal a loaf of bread and a half pound of cheese, to offer the same
to those in the next cell, and to keep as much for himself. But he did
not lose his aplomb.
"Exactly!" he exclaimed. "Just what I wanted! But I wouldn't think of
paying in money when I can offer something of great value! Now--"
"Give me the money," Pop growled. "A dollar and forty-eight cents."
"Oh, well, if you must be crass--" Jeff gave him a dollar bill and
forty-eight cents in change. "Give my pals in the next cell a loaf of
bread and a pound of cheese."
"Thanks!" Ike said feelingly, and even the silent Bucky mumbled his
gratitude. Jeff laid his pack on the lower bunk, put his food on the
pack, and made two sandwiches with a half pound of raw ground steak
between each. He spread a paper, scooped two pounds of steak upon it,
and gave it to Pal. The rest of the steak he passed into the next cell.
"This," Ike exclaimed, "is as good as a hotel! Best grub I ever threw a
lip over! Jeff, if ever you want a helping hand, you can count on me and
Bucky!"
"I'll remember," Jeff promised.
He ate his two sandwiches while Pal licked thoroughly the paper in which
the steak had been wrapped. Then he looked up appealingly and Jeff threw
him a quarter loaf of bread. The rest of the food he put in his pack. He
heard Ike's whispered,
"Jeff."