“And then you will repay me out of Carthew's pocket?” I said. “I am much obliged. But I will tell you what I will do: I will see you on board a steamer, pay your fare through to San Francisco, and place fifty dollars in the purser's hands, to be given you in New York.”
He drank in my words; his face represented an ecstasy of cunning thought. I could read there, plain as print, that he but thought to overreach me.
“And what am I to do in 'Frisco?” he asked. “I am disbarred, I have no trade, I cannot dig, to beg——” he paused in the citation. “And you know that I am not alone,” he added, “others depend upon me.”
“I will write to Pinkerton,” I returned. “I feel sure he can help you to some employment, and in the meantime, and for three months after your arrival, he shall pay to yourself personally, on the first and the fifteenth, twenty-five dollars.”
“Mr. Dodd, I scarce believe you can be serious in this offer,” he replied. “Have you forgotten the circumstances of the case? Do you know these people are the magnates of the section? They were spoken of to-night in the saloon; their wealth must amount to many millions of dollars in real estate alone; their house is one of the sights of the locality, and you offer me a bribe of a few hundred!”
“I offer you no bribe, Mr. Bellairs, I give you alms,” I returned. “I will do nothing to forward you in your hateful business; yet I would not willingly have you starve.”
“Give me a hundred dollars then, and be done with it,” he cried.
“I will do what I have said, and neither more nor less,” said I.
“Take care,” he cried. “You are playing a fool's game; you are making an enemy for nothing; you will gain nothing by this, I warn you of it!” And
