"But I don't understand," said the other anxiously. "You tell me you have a ship called the Hawk, and now——" he shrugged his shoulders with a helpless gesture.
"I'm afraid your enthusiasm's carried you away, friend Solomon. I never said anything of the sort. The Hawk referred to in that document is a legal fiction—an illegal fiction some might call it. If you want to go in for pigeon-plucking, you must provide the bird of prey," and Captain Calamity chuckled grimly at his own facetiousness.
"Me! Provide a ship! Out of the question!" cried Mr. Solomon, backing nervously from the table as though the mere suggestion alarmed him.
Calamity reached across the table and took from a box a big, fat, Burmese cigar. This he proceeded to light, which done, he leaned back in his chair and emitted huge clouds of smoke with obvious satisfaction.
"You must think of something else, Captain," went on his companion, drawing still farther away from the table to escape being suffocated by the Captain's smoke.
"Now see here," said Calamity, taking the cigar from his mouth and speaking with great deliberation. "You're a clever business man; a damned clever business man, or you wouldn't have kept out of jail all these years. Well, here's a business proposition after your own heart. You provide the ship and fit her out, and I'll provide the crew. Then, within three months, I'll undertake to earn a bigger dividend for each of us than you, with all your rascality, could make in a year. Doesn't that tickle your palate, my friend?"
He paused and watched with a smile the obvious signs of perturbation on his companion's face. It was clear to him that in the mind of Mr. Solomon a terrific battle was in progress between exceeding avarice and excessive caution.
"Vat security could you give?" asked the Jew at last. The struggle must have been fierce, for he drew from his pocket a large, yellow silk handkerchief and mopped the beads of perspiration from his face.
"Security!" echoed Calamity fiercely. "Why, the security of my name. Have you ever known me break my word, Solomon? Is there, in the whole of the Pacific to-day, a man living whom I've sworn to kill?"
Mr. Solomon started uneasily and edged towards the window as though to be in readiness to call for help if necessary.