"Fifty dollars is a heap of money, but it ain't a patching to what I could make out of the other thing," said Joe. "Who are the men?"
"They are Bob Nellis and ole Ben Watson," said Barlow in an earnest whisper. "I know you don't like either of them any better than I do."
"That there's a fact, and I am glad that ole Cap'n Nellis is played out. Why don't you go and get 'em yourself?"
"Well, you see, I have had a fuss here in the house, thanks to that ole Watson, and Mr. Sprague told me that the next row I raised here he would shut me up. Now, I don't want to be shut up. I want to raise a crew for that vessel, and at the same time I want to be right here in my saloon, so that I can prove it."
"And you want me to do the work for you?"
"In course I do. If you would go up there and get 'em, why I should be just that much ahead."
"But it is impossible to get those two men," said Joe, after thinking a moment. "They are there, right together, and how are you going to get them apart?"
"I don't ask you to go up there alone; my barkeeper will go with you, and after he captures Watson you mustn't be surprised if he gives him a lick or two to pay him off for the punching he gave Samson in my saloon yesterday. Samson is awful mad about that."
"I don't care how often he punches him, so long as he lets me alone. But there's one thing that bothers me: Suppos'n Cap'n Nellis should come back; wouldn't I get fits to pay me for the part I took in carrying it out? You see, I have got to look out for things."
"You don't suppose, because they took a different ship, that they are going to meet Captain Nellis, who left this port six months ago!" said Barlow, with a laugh. "Such a thing isn't to be thought of. You see, you don't know how badly the mates will treat them. They are mighty soft and easy around here, but when they get them afloat and draw near to some port at which they can ship cheaper hands, then you want to look out. They'll haze 'em till they are ready to jump overboard. It will be a year or two before they get back, even if they live so long, and by that time you can easily make up some sort of a story to tell them. Fifty dollars is a heap of money for a man like you. You needn't do any work as long as it lasts."