"Well, I don't know but I will give you half. Now you had best run away, for Hank and his mother will be along directly."
Joe emphasized the order by turning about and going up the steps, and Sam stood and looked at him as if he did not know whether to take him in earnest or not. Finally he said:
"You must remember and give me half, or I will stop it all on you. I'll go to Hank and Gibbons and tell them that you want the money to spend."
"You just wait till I get that money in my hands and I'll give you half. You ought to have it, for I shouldn't have known a thing about it."
"Then you think you won't go and look for that stream now?" said the clerk, who was much disappointed in going back to the village as empty-handed as he was when he came out.
"No. I'll try Hank and Gibbons first."
Joe went into the house and walked once or twice across the floor, and when he looked out again Sam Houston was gone. Then he lighted his pipe and sat down in his old, accustomed place. He took a few pulls before he could bring his mind to bear upon the story he had heard.
"That for giving you half!" said Joe, snapping his fingers in the air. "The money is mine, and if I get hold of any portion of it it will all be mine. The idea that that boy should find a pearl worth two hundred dollars and then go and hide it from me! I wish the boy wasn't so big; I'd like to lick him!"
Joe was so uneasy that he could not remain long in one position, and after a little while he got up, went to the gate, and looked for Hank and his mother. Joe did not know it, but the truth of the matter was Mrs. Lufkin and her son had gone off for a walk on purpose to be out of hearing of Mr. Lufkin. They wanted to exchange ideas in regard to Bob Nellis's disappearance, and consequently they took a longer time for their stroll than Joe approved of. After leaning over the gate for some time Joe opened it and went out.
"I don't know where they were going, but it seems to me that they are taking a long time for it," said Joe, impatiently. "I can stay here and starve, for all they would do to hurry up. I'm bound to have some of that money."