"How shall I then know I am to be paid?"
"You will have to take my word for it."
"But I have not pleasure in your acquaintance; how can I be sure?" he continued anxiously.
"Le Compte, swindler as you are, you know that I am an honest man. This quibbling is utterly foolish and simple. I am acting entirely for Mr. Lyon in this matter, and should you write to him or call upon him a hundred times, you would get nothing from him but a bluff. Here are your two notes," I continued, producing them, "one written Saturday, the other yesterday. The only response you got to them was, silence—and this interview. I thought we understood each other already."
I saw that he was still undecided about saying whatever he might have to say, and tenacious of sustaining his professional reputation as a clairvoyant. I might have easily frightened him into submission by the slightest reference to the occurrences of the previous day, but knew that this would have the effect of putting Mrs. Winslow on her guard, as she was already becoming suspicious and anxious, and preferred getting at his communication in the ordinary way. After he had sat musing for a time he suddenly asked:
"How great will be my pay?"
"What do you think the information is worth?" I said.
He looked at me as if fixing a price in his mind that I would stand, and replied:
"Certain, a thousand dollars."