Page:The Gentle Grafter (1908).djvu/123

 “‘I put the two thousand, which was all in $20 bills, in my inside pocket.

“‘Now get out your watch,’ says I to Murkison. ‘No, I don’t want it,’ says I. ‘Lay it on the table and you sit in that chair till it ticks off an hour. Then you can go. If you make any noise or leave any sooner we’ll handbill you all over Grassdale. I guess your high position there is worth more than $2,000 to you.’

“Then me and Andy left.

“‘On the train Andy was a long time silent. Then he says: ‘Jeff, do you mind my asking you a question?’

“‘Two,’ says I, ‘or forty.’

“‘Was that the idea you had,’ says he, ‘when we started out with Murkison?’

“‘Why, certainly,’ says I. ‘What else could it have been? Wasn’t it yours, too?’

“In about half an hour Andy spoke again. I think there are times when Andy don’t exactly understand my system of ethics and moral hygiene.

“‘Jeff,’ says he, ‘some time when you have the leisure I wish you’d draw off a diagram and footnotes of that conscience of yours. I’d like to have it to refer to occasionally.’” 111