"Five thousand! Pepper, have you gone crazy?"
"No; I'm as sane as you are."
"You ask a fortune."
"If that's a fortune, what's the amount you expect to gain? Old Horton is worth over a hundred thousand, if he's worth a cent."
"But I'm not sure of this fortune yet. He's a queer old fellow. He might cut me off at the last minute."
"Not if you had that will. You could date that to suit yourself, and you'd push your game through somehow."
"I can give you two thousand dollars—not a dollar more."
"It's five thousand or nothing," responded Sam Pepper doggedly.
"Will you accept my check?"
"No; I want the cash."