“It was never more appropriate than at this moment, Jimmy, for if you are not the most barefaced reprobate out of prison, I’ll eat my hat; and that’s quite a compliment.”
“I suppose so. Anyway, I choose to take it so, rather than be offended. But you said he was supposed to be dead—this Bare-Faced Jimmy, as you call him. Why not let him lie? What is the use of stirring up the dead?”
“He has been stealing jewels, that’s all.”
“Oh; has he?”
“Yes. He can stay dead just as long as he pleases if he returns those jewels, and then disappears again, at once.”
“I see. It must be his ghost that you are talking about, Carter.”
“Yes; we’ll call it that. The ghost of Bare-Faced Jimmy.”
“What has he got to do besides return the jewels he has stolen?”
“Beat it. Skip. Get out. Disappear.”
“What! All four, and all at once? Really. Say! Suppose the ghost refuses to walk?”