That made him so mad he fairly gurgled.
"There'll be no billiard saloon in this town," he declared. "No more gilded ha'nts of sin, temptin' young men whose parents have spent good money on their education. No, you bet there won't! And that buildin' may not be empty, nuther. I know somethin'. He, he, he!"
"Sho!" says I. "Do you? I wouldn't have believed it of you, Ebenezer."
I left him tryin' to think of a fittin' answer, and walked on to the store. Mary called to me from behind the letter-boxes.
"Mr. Jacobs is in the back room," she says, "and he wants to see you right away. Erastus Taylor is with him."
"'Rastus Taylor?" I sung out. "Ratty? What in the world—?"
I hurried into the back room. Sure enough, there was Jim Henry and Ratty caged behind a pile of boxes and barrels.
"Ah, Skipper!" says Jacobs; "is that you? I was hopin' you'd come. Young Taylor here has been suggestin' an idea that looks good to me. Tell the Cap'n what you've been tellin' me, Ratty."
Rat twisted uneasy on the box where he was settin' and give me a side look out of his little eyes. I never saw him look more like his nickname.
"Well, Cap'n Zeb," he says, "it's like this: I've been thinkin' and I believe I've thought of a way so you and Mr. Jacobs can get Philander's lot and buildin'."