“Pay? Ah,” said the second man; “and we’ll all share in turn. Come on in here.”
This fellow clapped his hand on my shoulder with a boisterous display of friendliness, while the firstcomer thrust his hand through Esau’s arm, and began to lead him toward the saloon.
“That will do,” I said, trying to be cool, for I began to fear that we were being dragged into some disturbance, and felt that the time had come to be firm. “We are much obliged to you for your friendliness, but we neither of us drink. Be good enough to tell me where the agent of the ship lives, and I’ll give you half-a-dollar.”
“Nonsense! come and have a drink, my lad.”
“No, thank you,” I said. “Come, Esau.”
“Why, what a fellow you are. Very well, then, hand over the twenty dollars each, if you can’t take a friendly drop. I’ll get the tickets for you all the same.”
“No, no,” said the other man. “Let’s do no business without a drink first; they think we want to make them pay, but I’ll stand liquors for the lot.”
“No, let ’em have their own way,” said the first man; “they’re not used to our customs. You let ’em alone. I’m going to get ’em passages in the Paulina, for twenty dollars each. Come, lads, where’s your money?”
I glanced quickly to right and left, but we seemed to be away from help, and, strangers as we were, in the lower part of the port, quite at the mercy of these men. Then, having made up my mind what to do, I pressed up to Esau, pushing rather roughly by our first friend.
“Now, Esau,” I said, “back to the hotel. Straight on,” I whispered. “Run!”