vs."

He sighed deeply, pursed his lips, and looked at his writing-pad
intently.

Joe and Fred Pole had many faults, which they freely admitted, such as
their generosity, their reckless kindness of heart, their willingness
to do their worst enemies a good turn, and the like. They had others
which they never admitted, but which were none the less patent to their
prejudiced contemporaries.

But they had virtues which were admirable. They were, for example,
absolutely loyal to one another, and were constant in their mutual
admiration and help. If Joe made a bad deal, Fred never rested until
he had balanced things against the beneficiary. If Fred in a weak
moment paid a higher price to the vendor of a property than he, as
promoter, could afford, it was Joe who took the smug vendor out to
dinner and, by persuasion, argument, and the frank expression of his
liking for the unfortunate man, tore away a portion of his ill-gotten
gains.

"I suppose," said Joe, concluding his minatory exercises, and reaching
for a cigar from the silver box which stood on the table midway between
the two, "I suppose we couldn't hold Billing to his contract. Have you
seen Cole about it, Fred?"

The other nodded slowly.

"Cole says that there is no contract. Billing offered to buy the
ships, and meant to buy them, undoubtedly; but Cole says that if you
took Billing into court, the judge would chuck his pen in your eye."

"Would he now?" said Joe, one of whose faults was that he took things
literally. "But perhaps if you took Billing out to dinner, Fred----"

"He's a vegetarian, Joe"--he reached in his turn for a cigar, snipped
the end and lit it--"and he's deaf. No, we've got to find a sucker,
Joe. I can sell the _Fairy May_ and the _Fairy Belle_: they're little
boats, and are worth money in the open market. I can sell the wharfage
and offices and the goodwill----"

"What's the goodwill worth, Fred?"

"About fivepence net," said the gloomy Fred. "I can sell all these,
but it is the _Fairy Mary_ and the _Fairy Tilda_ that's breaking my
heart. And yet, Joe, there ain't two ships of their tonnage to be
bought on the market. If you wanted two ships of the same size and
weight, you couldn't buy 'em for a million--no, you couldn't. I guess
they must be bad ships, Joe."

Joe had already guessed that.

"I offered 'em to Saddler, of the White Anchor," Fred went on, "and he
said that if he ever started collecting curios he'd remem