"Yes. I'll sell my soul into hell for it right now," he gasped.
"You don't need to do that." Ned drew two hundred dollars in gold from his pocket and clinked the coin.
"You see that gold?"
"Yes, yes—what do you want for it?"
"I want you to get for me to-morrow morning the exact number of men in McClellan's army. I want the figures from Stanton's office—you understand. I want the name of each command, its numbers and its officers. I know already half of them. So you can't lie to me. Give me this information here to-morrow night and the gold is yours. Will you do it?"
The boy glanced at Ned for a moment:
"I'll see you in hell first. I've a notion to arrest you—damned if I don't——"
He wheeled and started toward the corner.
Ned's left hand gripped his with the snap of a steel trap, his right holding his revolver.
"Don't you be a fool. I know that you're ruined. I saw you in Joe Hall's——"