“No! no! Do not rob me of what little I possess! This war has cost me so much! I will pay, yes, every ruble!”
“Very well, see that you do,” answered the young captain sternly.
By this time Ben had returned with a squad of six Japanese soldiers. The house was searched, and then put in charge of a guard.
“I’m half of a mind to have you sent to prison,” said Gilbert to Snokoff, although he knew such a course would not be necessary.
“Do not, I beg of you,” pleaded the rascal. “I will pay; have I not said so?”
“Very well, do so, and we can sign the papers right here.”
Ben was called in, and also Nicholas Vanskynov. When Ivan Snokoff saw his former clerk he was furious.
“So it is you who have betrayed me!” he roared. He was sitting with his wounded leg bound up and resting on a bench. “Oh, that I might get at you!”
“You leave him alone,” said Gilbert. “If you do not, you will only get yourself into more trouble.”
The necessary papers were drawn up, and in the presence of Ben and the clerk Snokoff paid over to Gilbert all that was coming to the Richmond Importing Company—half in gold and half in Russian paper money, which the young captain knew was just as good.