"You're a forsaken fool," said Smith. "If you do it neatly, who's to know till he comes back? And who knows then you or I done it? And ain't I reckonin' to allow you a bonus of ten dollars extra? With times as they is now, ten dollars is ten dollars, lemme tell you. And you've taken to growlin' lately in a way I'm not goin' to stand, Bill. I don't want any slack-jaw from you, so there."
"Who's givin' any slack-jaw?" expostulated the runner. "I suppose a man can hev an opinion?"
"And he can keep it till called for, too," said his boss. "I can lick you any time."
And Bill growled, "Who says you can't? Would I be workin' for you if you couldn't?" The inference was not exactly obvious.
That afternoon Gardiner came down again to the Barbary Coast, and had another talk with Shanghai Smith.
"What, another of 'em?" asked Shanghai. "I say, Mr. Gardiner, this is a bit thick!"
"Yes, it's two thousand dollars thick," said Gardiner; "if you could only ship a whole crew on such terms, you might retire and go in for politics."
"And who's the man this time?"
"It's Jack Hunt."
"Him as is payin' for Gawthrop?"