f that
gold. But I'm takin' no chances. I want it all wrote down reg'lar so
folks can't say I sneaked around you, an' got it for nix. Gee, I'd
look mighty small if you turned around on me afterwards. No, sir, you
don't get me that way. I'm only soft around my teeth. If you're the
man I take you for, if you're honest as you're guessin', if you feel
you want to pay me fer anything I done for you, why, cut the gas an'
take my dollars' an' I'll get the papers made out by a Spawn City
lawyer. They're all that crooked they couldn't walk a chalk-line, but
I guess they know how to bind a feller good an' tight, an' I'll see
they bind you up so ther' won't be no room for fool tricks. That's
bizness."

Scipio shook his head. And Bill flushed angrily.

"It ain't square," the little man protested. "Maybe you'll lose your
money."

"That's up to me," the gambler began fiercely. Then he checked
himself, and suddenly became quite grieved. "Wal, Zip, I wouldn't ha'
b'lieved it. I sure wouldn't. But ther'--life's jest self. It's all
self. You're like all the rest. I've been chasin' a patch o' good pay
dirt ever since I bin around Sufferin' Creek, an' it's only now I've
found one to suit me. I sure thought you'd let me in on it. I sure
did. Howsum, you won't. You want it all yourself. Wall, go ahead. An'
you needn't worry about what I told you this morning. My word goes
every time. This ain't going to make no difference. I'm not goin' to
squeal on that jest because you won't 'blige me."

He made as though to return his dollars to his pocket. He had turned
away, but his shrewd eyes held his companion in their focus. He saw
the flush of shame on Scipio's face. He saw him open his mouth to
speak. Then he saw it shut as he left his tub and came towards him.
Bill waited, his cunning telling him to keep up his pretense. Scipio
did not pause till he laid a hand on his arm, and his mild eyes were
looking up into his keen, hard face.

"Bill," he said, "you can have ha'f my claim and--and I'll take your
dollars. I jest didn't guess I was bein' selfish about it--I didn't,
truth. I was thinkin' o' you. I was thinkin' you might lose your
bills. Y'see, I haven't had the best of luck--I--"

But the gambler's face was a study as he pushed his hand off and
turned on him. There was a fine struggle going on in his manner
between the harshness he wished to display and the glad triumph he
really felt.

"Don't slob," he cried. "Here's the bills. Stuff