dozen outstanding. The canvas
itself was very coarse, and there was lots to spare, the slack being
turned over and over, and tied with heavy twine extra. Then he took them
all out, and slitting them open, just let the stuff rip naked.

Lord! but it was a dandy sight, a dazzle of double eagles cascading like
a river, and so swift that you couldn't pretend to count them! He seemed
satisfied to go on like that, cutting one open after the other, till the
suit case brimmed up solid. There was fifty-eight bags in all, and the
Lord only knows how much in each; but, as I said, it took both his hands
to lift a single one. I reckon I didn't know there was so much money in
all the world, and it came over me afresh how fond I was of Old Dibs,
and how good I was going to be to him.

When the last bag was emptied he thought he'd put back the suit case
into one of the trunks, never recollecting that he might as well have
tried to lift a locomotive. Then he laid hands on just the handle at one
end, and he couldn't even shift it. You disremember how heavy gold is,
seeing so little of it, and counting a hundred dollars a fortune. But he
had there, considering the trunks weighed the usual amount, say about a
hundred and fifty pounds each, and gold at nearly twenty dollars an
ounce--well, the next day Tom worked it out to about two hundred and
fifty thousand dollars.

Think of it! With nothing between it and me but some chicken wire and an
old gentleman in a dressing gown! It would have seemed a snap to some
people, but I never made a dishonest dollar in my life--except in the
way of trade, and then it was to natives (who water copra on you and
square the difference); and he was in no more danger of harm than if it
had been Lima beans.

Then--to get along with my yarn--he took the comforter off the bed, and
setting it down flat on the floor, begun to cover it with double
handfuls ranged in rows, till he had worked down the suit case to where
he could lift it. He carried it over to the nearest trunk, placed it
snug in the bottom, and started to load it up again from the stacks on
the quilt. I don't know how long he took to do it, but it was quite a
time, and he looked pretty well tired out when it was over, and he sat
back in the rocker and rocked--me still glued at the winder--and he
reached out for his flute and put it to his lips (though he didn't blow
into it), and worked his fingers like he was playing a piece. After a
time he lai