hadnoappetite；buttheremightstillbemuchtodo——itwasneedfulIshouldkeepmyselfinpropertrim，ifitwereonlytodigestthenowtooprobablebadnews；andleavingwordattheofficeforPinkerton，Isatdowntotableandcalledforsoup，oysters，andapintofchampagne。
Iwasnotlongset，beforemyfriendreturned。Helookedpaleandratherold，refusedtohearoffood，andcalledfortea。
“Isupposeall’sup？”saidI，withanincrediblesinking。
“No。”hereplied；“I’vepulleditthrough，Loudon；justpulleditthrough。Icouldn’thaveraisedanothercentinall’Frisco。
Peopledon’tlikeit；Longhurstevenwentbackonme；saidhewasn’tathree-card-monteman。”
“Well，what’stheodds？”saidI。“That’sallwewanted，isn’tit？”
“Loudon，ItellyouI’vehadtopaybloodforthatmoney。”criedmyfriend，withalmostsavageenergyandgloom。“It’sallonninetydays，too；Icouldn’tgetanotherday——notanotherday。Ifwegoaheadwiththisaffair，Loudon，you’llhavetogoyourselfandmakethefurfly。I’llstayofcourse——I’vegottostayandfacethetroubleinthiscity；though，Itellyou，Ijustlongtogo。
Iwouldshowthesefatbrutesofsailorswhatworkwas；I
wouldbeallthroughthatwreckandoutattheotherend，beforetheyhadboostedthemselvesuponthedeck！Butyou’lldoyourlevelbest，Loudon；Idependonyouforthat。Youmustbeallfireandgritanddashfromtheword’go。’Thatschoonerandtheboodleonboardofherareboundtobeherebeforethreemonths，orit’sB。U。S。T——bust。”
“I’llswearI’lldomybest，Jim；I’llworkdoubletides。”saidI。
“Itismyfaultthatyouareinthisthing，andI’llgetyououtagainorkillmyself。Butwhatisthatyousay？’Ifwegoahead？’Haveweanychoice，then？”
“I’mcomingtothat。”saidJim。“Itisn’tthatIdoubttheinvestment。Don’tblameyourselfforthat；youshowedafine，soundbusinessinstinct：Ialwaysknewitwasinyou，butthenitrippedrightout。Iguessthatlittlebeastofanattorneyknewwhathewasdoing；andhewantednothingbetterthantogobeyond。No，there’sprofitinthedeal；it’snotthat；it’stheseninety-daybills，andthestrainI’vegiventhecredit，forI’vebeenupanddown，borrowing，andbeggingandbribingtoborrow。Idon’tbelievethere’sanothermanbutmein’Frisco。”
hecried，withasuddenfervorofselfadmiration，“whocouldhaveraisedthatlasttenthousand！——Thenthere’sanotherthing。
Ihadhopedyoumighthavepeddledthatopiumthroughtheislands，whichissaferandmoreprofitable。Butwiththisthree-monthlimit，youmustmaketracksforHonolulustraight，andcommunicatebysteamer。I’lltrytoputupsomethingforyouthere；I’llhaveamanspokentowho’spostedonthatlineofbiz。Keepabrightlookoutforhimassoon’syoumaketheislands；forit’sonthecardshemightpickyouupatseainawhaleboatorasteam-launch，andbringthedollarsrightonboard。”
ItshowshowmuchIhadsufferedmorallyduringmysojourninSanFrancisco，thatevennowwhenourfortunestrembledinthebalance，Ishouldhaveconsentedtobecomeasmugglerand(ofallthings)asmugglerofopium。YetIdid，andthatinsilence；withoutaprotest，notwithoutatwinge。
“Andsuppose。”saidI，“supposetheopiumissosecurelyhiddenthatIcan’tgethandsonit？”
“Thenyouwillstaytheretillthatbrigiskindling-wood，andstayandsplitthatkindling-woodwithyourpenknife。”criedPinkerton。“Thestuffisthere；weknowthat；anditmustbefound。Butallthisisonlytheonestringtoourbow——thoughI
tellyouI’vegoneintoithead-first，asifitwasourbottomdollar。Why，thefirstthingIdidbeforeI’draisedacent，andwiththisothernotioninmyheadalready——thefirstthingIdidwastosecuretheschooner。TheNoraCreina，sheis，sixty-fourtons，quitebigenoughforourpurposesincethericeisspoiled，andthefastestthingofhertonnageoutofSanFrancisco。Forabonusoftwohundred，andamonthlycharterofthree，Ihaveherformyowntime；wagesandprovisions，sayfourhundredmore：adropinthebucket。Theybeganfiringthecargooutofher(shewaspartloaded)neartwohoursago；andaboutthesametimeJohnSmithgottheorderforthestores。That’swhatIcallbusiness。”
“Nodoubtofthat。”saidI。“Buttheothernotion？”
“Well，hereitis。”saidJim。“YouagreewithmethatBellairswasreadytogohigher？”
“Isawwherehewascoming。“Yes——andwhyshouldn’the？”
saidI。“Isthattheline？”
“That’stheline，LoudonDodd。”assentedJim。“IfBellairsandhisprincipalhaveanydesiretogomebetter，I’mtheirman。”
Asuddenthought，asuddenfear，shotintomymind。WhatifI
hadbeenright？Whatifmychildishpleasantryhadfrightenedtheprincipalaway，andthusdestroyedourchance？Shameclosedmymouth；Ibeganinstinctivelyalongcourseofreticence；anditwaswithoutawordofmymeetingwithBellairs，ormydiscoveryoftheaddressinMissionStreet，thatI
continuedthediscussion。
“Doubtlessfiftythousandwasoriginallymentionedasaroundsum。”saidI，“oratleast，soBellairssupposed。Butatthesametimeitmaybeanoutsidesum；andtocovertheexpenseswehavealreadyincurredforthemoneyandtheschooner——Iamfarfromblamingyou；Iseehowneedfulitwastobereadyforeitherevent——buttocoverthemweshallwantaratherlargeadvance。”
“Bellairswillgotosixtythousand；it’smybelief，ifhewereproperlyhandled，hewouldtakethehundred。”repliedPinkerton。“Lookbackonthewaythesaleranattheend。”
“ThatismyownimpressionasregardsBellairs，Iadmitted。
“ThepointIamtryingtomakeisthatBellairshimselfmaybemistaken；thatwhathesupposedtobearoundsumwasreallyanoutsidefigure。”
“Well，Loudon，ifthatisso。”saidJim，withextraordinarygravityoffaceandvoice，“ifthatisso，lethimtaketheFlyingScudatfiftythousand，andjoygowithher！Iprefertheloss。”
“Isthatso，Jim？Arewedippedasbadasthat？”Icried。
“We’veputourhandfartheroutthanwecanpullitinagain，Loudon。”hereplied。“Why，man，thatfiftythousanddollars，beforewegetclearagain，willcostusnearerseventy。Yes，itfiguresupoverheadtomorethantenpercentamonth；andI
coulddonobetter，andthereisn’tthemanbreathingcouldhavedoneaswell。Itwasamiracle，Loudon。Icouldn’tbutadmiremyself。O，ifwehadjustthefourmonths！Andyouknow，Loudon，itmaystillbedone。Withyourenergyandcharm，iftheworstcomestotheworst，youcanrunthatschoonerasyouranoneofyourpicnics；andwemayhaveluck。And，O，man！
ifwedopullitthrough，whatadashingoperationitwillbe！
Whatanadvertisement！whatathingtotalkof，andrememberallourlives！However。”hebrokeoffsuddenly，“wemusttrythesafethingfirst。Here’sfortheshyster！”
Therewasanotherstruggleinmymind，whetherIshouldevennowadmitmyknowledgeoftheMissionStreetaddress。ButI
hadletthefavourablemomentslip。Ihadnow，whichmadeitthemoreawkward，notmerelytheoriginaldiscovery，butmylatesuppressiontoconfess。Icouldnothelpreasoning，besides，thatthemorenaturalcoursewastoapproachtheprincipalbytheroadofhisagent’soffice；andthereweigheduponmyspiritsaconvictionthatwewerealreadytoolate，andthatthemanwasgonetwohoursago。Oncemore，then，Iheldmypeace；andafteranexchangeofwordsatthetelephonetoassureourselveshewasathome，wesetoutfortheattorney’soffice。
TheendlessstreetsofanyAmericancitypass，fromoneendtoanother，throughstrangedegreesandvicissitudesofsplendouranddistress，runningunderthesamenamebetweenmonumentalwarehouses，thedensandtavernsofthieves，andtheswardandshrubberyofvillas。InSanFrancisco，thesharpinequalitiesoftheground，andtheseaborderingonsomanysides，greatlyexaggeratethesecontrasts。Thestreetforwhichwewerenowboundtookitsriseamongblowingsands，somewhereinviewoftheLoneMountainCemetery；ranforatermacrossthatratherwindyOlympusofNobHill，orperhapsjustskirteditsfrontier；passedalmostimmediatelyafterthroughastageoflittlehouses，ratherimpudentlypainted，andofferingtotheeyeoftheobserverthisdiagnosticpeculiarity，thatthehugebrassplatesuponthesmallandhighlycoloureddoorsboreonlythefirstnamesofladies——NorahorLilyorFlorence；traversedChinaTown，whereitwasdoubtlessunderminedwithopiumcellars，anditsblockspierced，afterthesimilitudeofrabbit-warrens，withahundreddoorsandpassagesandgalleries；enjoyedaglimpseofhighpublicityatthecornerofKearney；andproceeded，amongdivesandwarehouses，towardstheCityFrontandtheregionofthewater-
rats。Inthislaststageofitscareer，whereitwasbothgrimyandsolitary，andalternatelyquietandroaringtothewheelsofdrays，wefoundacertainhouseofsomepretensiontoneatness，andfurnishedwitharusticoutsidestair。Onthepillarofthestairablackplateboreingildedletteringthisdevice：“HarryD。
Bellairs，Attorney-at-law。Consultations，9to6。”Onascendingthestairs，adoorwasfoundtostandopenonthebalcony，withthisfurtherinscription，“Mr。BellairsIn。”
“Iwonderwhatwedonext。”saidI。
“Guesswesailrightin。”returnedJim，andsuitedtheactiontotheword。
Theroominwhichwefoundourselveswasclean，butextremelybare。Aratherold-fashionedsecretairestoodbythewall，withachairdrawntothedesk；inonecornerwasashelfwithhalf-a-dozenlawbooks；andIcanrememberliterallynotanotherstickoffurniture。Oneinferenceimposeditself：Mr。
Bellairswasinthehabitofsittingdownhimselfandsufferinghisclientstostand。Atthefarend，andveiledbyacurtainofredbaize，aseconddoorcommunicatedwiththeinteriorofthehouse。Hence，aftersomecoughingandstamping，weelicitedtheshyster，whocametimorouslyforth，foralltheworldlikeamaninfearofbodilyassault，andthen，recognisinghisguests，sufferedfromwhatIcanonlycallanervousparoxysmofcourtesy。
“Mr。Pinkertonandpartner！”saidhe。“Iwillgoandfetchyouseats。”
“Nottheleast。”saidJim。“Notime。Muchratherstand。Thisisbusiness，Mr。Bellairs。Thismorning，asyouknow，Iboughtthewreck，FlyingScud。”
Thelawyernodded。
“Andboughther。”pursuedmyfriend，“atafigureoutofallproportiontothecargoandthecircumstances，astheyappeared？”
“Andnowyouthinkbetterofit，andwouldliketobeoffwithyourbargain？Ihavebeenfiguringuponthis。”returnedthelawyer。“Myclient，Iwillnothidefromyou，wasdispleasedwithmeforputtinghersohigh。Ithinkwewerebothtooheated，Mr。Pinkerton：rivalry——thespiritofcompetition。ButI
willbequitefrank——IknowwhenIamdealingwithgentlemen——andIamalmostcertain，ifyouleavethematterinmyhands，myclientwouldrelieveyouofthebargain，soasyouwouldlose“——heconsultedourfaceswithgimlet-eyedcalculation——
“nothing。”headdedshrilly。
AndherePinkertonamazedme。
“That’salittletoothin。”saidhe。“Ihavethewreck。Iknowthere’sboodleinher，andImeantokeepher。WhatIwantissomepointswhichmaysavemeneedlessexpense，andwhichI’mpreparedtopayfor，moneydown。Thethingforyoutoconsiderisjustthis：amItodealwithyouordirectwithyourprincipal？Ifyouarepreparedtogivemethefactsrightoff，why，nameyourfigure。Onlyonething！”addedJim，holdingafingerup，“whenIsay’moneydown，’Imeanbillspayablewhentheshipreturns，andiftheinformationprovesreliable。I
don’tbuypigsinpokes。”
Ihadseenthelawyer’sfacelightupforamoment，andthen，atthesoundofJim’sproviso，miserablyfade。“IguessyouknowmoreaboutthiswreckthanIdo，Mr。Pinkerton。”saidhe。“I
onlyknowthatIwastoldtobuythething，andtried，andcouldn’t。”
“WhatIlikeaboutyou，Mr。Bellairs，isthatyouwastenotime。”saidJim。“Nowthen，yourclient’snameandaddress。”
“Onconsideration。”repliedthelawyer，withindescribablefurtivity，“IcannotseethatIamentitledtocommunicatemyclient’sname。Iwillsoundhimforyouwithpleasure，ifyoucaretoinstructme；butIcannotseethatIcangiveyouhisaddress。”
“Verywell。”saidJim，andputhishaton。“Ratherastrongstep，isn’tit？”(Betweeneverysentencewasaclearpause。)“Notthinkbetterofit？Well，come——callitadollar？”
“Mr。Pinkerton，sir！”exclaimedtheoffendedattorney；and，indeed，ImyselfwasalmostafraidthatJimhadmistakenhismanandgonetoofar。
“Nopresentuseforadollar？”saysJim。“Well，lookhere，Mr。
Bellairs：we’rebothbusymen，andI’llgotomyoutsidefigurewithyourightaway——“
