"Yuss," agreed Albert. "You pay us off an' we'll stop it."
"Ho, yuss!" said Leopold.
"I've not got anything to pay you off with," said William, desperately. "You don't be paid for bein' in a secret serciety. I told you you didn't. You jus' b'long."
"Well," said Sam, as if astounded by the depravity of human nature, "an' us workin' for you——"
"Riskin' our lives for you," put in Leopold, pathetically.
"To be treated like this 'ere," ended Albert, sadly.
"But—wot d'you want?" said the president, wildly. "I've not got any money left this week, an' next week's an' the week's after's goin' to pay for an ole clock bein' mended wot I was jus' lookin' at an' I put it back all right, 'cept how was I to know there was too many wheels in it? An' I tell you you don't be paid for bein' in a secret serciety—no one is—they jus'—they jus' b'long... I keep tellin' you ... you don't understand."
"Wot about 'till deth'?" put in Leopold again in his sepulchral tones.
"Orl right," said Sam, "we'll jus' go an' tell ole Frenchy an' Mr. Beal an' Mr. Pugh an' your father that we did all those things, but you put us up to them an' made us do 'em." He gazed at William dispassionately. "I'm sorry for you. You'll catch it."
William's freckled countenance was full of horror and amazement. He passed a grimy hand through his already wild hair.