"Well, my dear, what are you laughing at?" he demanded, a trifle
austerely.
"I'm laughing at you. You told me yesterday you were loaded for these
Californians and could flatten their anti-Japanese arguments in a
jiffy."
"Perhaps I am loaded still. Remember, Kay, Mr. Farrel has done all of
the talking and we have been attentive listeners. Wait until I have
had my innings."
"By the way, Mr. Parker," Farrel asked, "who loaded you up with
pro-Japanese arguments?"
Parker flushed and was plainly ill at ease. Farrel turned to Kay.
"I do not know yet where you folks came from, but I'll make a bet that
I can guess--in one guess."
"What will you bet, my erudite friend?" the girl bantered.
"I'll bet you Panchito against a box of fifty of the kind of cigars
your father smokes."
"Taken. Where do we hail from, Don Mike?"
"From New York city."
"Dad, send Mr. Farrel a box of cigars."
"Now, I'll make you another bet. I'll stake Panchito against another
box of the same cigars that your father is a member of the Japan
Society, of New York city."
"Send Mr. Farrel another box of cigars, popsy-wops. Don Mike, how
_did_ you guess it?"
"Oh, all the real plutocrats in New York have been sold memberships in
that instrument of propaganda by the wily sons of Nippon. The Japan
Society is supposed to be a vehicle for establishing friendlier
commercial and social relations between the United States and Japan.
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