"Hold up your arms!" commanded the captain.
Smithers did as he was directed, and extended his arms in the air.
"Where are you from, and what have you got?" was the next question.
"From Jersey City, and last from Omaha," replied Smithers. "I have a few stores in the wagon, and very little money. It is all I have to keep my wife and two children. Gentlemen, for pity's sake, don't deprive us of our only means of gaining a livelihood!"
"Oh, drop on yourself!" answered the captain, impatiently. "Play light! What are you?—a ranting preacher?"
"I was a dry-goods clerk, sir."
"What made you quit Jersey City? No lies now!"
"I—I robbed my employers, sir, and had to leave," replied Smithers, in some confusion.
The other laughed.
"That's a good joke!" he exclaimed. "You steal all you can lay your hands on, and then object to being robbed in your turn. Turn and turn about's a square deal, you know."