Coglan wiped his mouth again.
“An' ye'd be goin' widout takin' advice of a sinsible mon, Hicksy, an' a friend in need! Sure, sure! Didn't I say ye weren't a wise mon? Nor Jimmy here, he ain't a wise mon. An' ain't I proved it? Ain't it so? Would ye be jailed if ye was a wise mon? No! Here ye are again, an' ye'd be runnin' away this time of the mornin', an' be took by a polaceman on the first corner. I do laugh an' I do wape over ye, Hicksy. I do laugh an wape. An' all because ye won't take advice.”
“What's your advice?”
Coglan moved uneasily and cleared his throat. “'Tis this, for ye're rasonable now, sure! Ye'll hide in the back room a day or two. Quiet, aisy, safe! Jimmy an' me to watch. An' what happens to ye? Ye gets away some night wid the night before ye.”
He lowered his voice and gestured with closed fist.
“Ye'll lie under Jimmy's bed. The polaceman comes. 'Hicks!' says Jimmy, 'we ain't seen Hicks.' 'Hicks!' says I, 'Hicks be dommed! If he's broke jail he's left for Chiney maybe.' I ask ye, do they look under Jimmy's bed? No! What do they do? Nothin'!”
Allen drew a step back.
“You're right about one thing,” he said. “That reward would be easy picking for you.”
“What's thot?”
“I ain't a wise man. I know it. But I know you. That's what it is. I'm going now.”