‘What! are ye all silent?’ asked Jenkins.
No one offered to speak.
‘What say you Mike?’
‘I like not the shedding of human blood when it can be avoided,’ he answered; ‘if, however, Jenkins, you order me to perpetrate this crime, although it is against my inclination, I will obey you: if I am permitted to use my own free will, I say I will not commit the crime. Will that answer suffice?’
‘It will,’ said Jenkins; ‘but Joe, you will not refuse the thousand dollars?’
‘I would not stain my hands with innocent blood for twenty times one thousand dollars, unless it was by your command,’ was the answer.
‘And Ben, what say you?’
‘I am a robber, ready to defend myself and my comrades from an attack; but I am not a cold-blooded deliberate murderer;’ replied Ben.
‘Damnation!’ cried Blodget, fiercely; and he arose from his seat and hastily traversed the room.
‘Be patient,’ said Jenkins; ‘this matter will be arranged, quicker than you could possibly expect. You see, Blodget, although they are desperate men, they are not quite such atrocious monsters as they have been thought by many.’