"'Afore you evens scores with me, Tom,' said Sam, 'you'll have t' have what I wants.'
"'I may have it.'
"'An' also,' said Sam, 'what I can't get.'
"'There's times,' said Tom, 'when a man stands in sore need o' what he never thought he'd want.'
"'When you haves what I needs,' said Sam, 'I'll pay what you asks.'
"'If 'tis for sale,' said Tom.
"'Money talks,' said Sam.
"'Ah, well,' said Tom, 'maybe it don't speak my language.'
"Of course, Skinflint Sam's conscience is just as busy as any other man's conscience. I think it troubles Sam. It doesn't trouble him to be honest, perhaps; it troubles him only to be rich. And possibly it gives him no rest. When trade is dull—no fish coming into Sam's storehouses and no goods going out of Sam's shop—Sam's conscience makes him grumble and groan. They say a man never was so tortured by conscience before.
"And to ease his conscience Sam goes over his ledgers by night; and he will jot down a gallon of molasses here, and a pound of tea there, until he has made a good day's trade of a bad one. 'Tis simple enough, too: for Sam gives out no accounts, but just strikes his balances to please his greed, at the end of the season, and tells his dealers how much they owe him or how little he owes them."