"Ye mean ter say—"
"Exactly that; I 've prevented you from going to bed within two hours of the Lord's day with the theft of two hundred dollars on your soul."
"If ye think I 'm gonter stand up here in th' cold and listen to sech talk as thet—"
"I 'll give you fifteen hundred dollars cash for the place," interrupted Donaldson. "And remember that I know you through and through. I even know how much you stole from old man Burnham."
This was a chance shot, but it evidently went home from the sound of uneasy coughing and spluttering that came to him over the telephone. Donaldson found considerable amusement in grilling this country Shylock.
"Why, the house 'n' barn is wuth more 'n thet," the deacon exploded.
"I 'll give you fifteen hundred dollars, and mail the money to you to-night."
"See here, I don't know who ye be, but ye 're darned sassy. I won't trade with ye afore Monday an'—"
"Then you won't trade at all."
"I 'll split th'—"