Hanleigh became more amicable.
“Now listen here, boys,” he said smoothly; “it doesn’t do any of us any good to quarrel like this. If you think you’re not being paid enough, I guess I can let you have a little more. I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll pay you each twenty dollars to take me to the island to-morrow morning. That’s fair enough, isn’t it?”
Nash laughed scornfully.
“Now we know you have some game on,” he said. “Twenty dollars won’t be enough. We want a hundred dollars apiece.”
“A hundred! It’s an outrage. I won’t pay it.”
Nash got up. “All right. Come on, Tad. We may as well go and see Mr. Jefferson now. He’ll probably be glad to pay us well for the information we can give him.”
The young men got up and were moving toward the door when Hanleigh sprang to his feet.
“Not so fast!” he begged. “Sit down and let us talk this over.”
“What’s the use of talking when you won’t listen to reason?”
Hanleigh regarded the pair for a moment. Then he said: